Heritage Wood

This volume highlights recent research efforts in the conservation and investigation of works of art on wood. Through eleven case studies it showcases different experimental methods ranging from X-ray analysis of objects to the study of cross-sections made from micro-samples. 

New research focusing on the technical study, treatment and assessment of works of art on wood in its many forms is featured in this edited volume. Technical studies include the attribution and investigations of a triptych by Hans Memling and a sculpture from workshop of Michel and Gregor Erhart, decorated Syrian rooms, and investigations of finely carved Gothic wooden objects. Synchrotron-based methods are presented for studying the alteration of 19th c. verdigris in Norway, and multi-analytical methods are employed for the investigations of 16th to 19th c. East Asian lacquer from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Novel methods for the cleaning of gilded surfaces using gelsand emulsions are shown, as are innovative strategies for the consolidation for waterlogged wood, providing key data for the assessment of risks and benefits of new methods, and the short and long-term effects on gilding layers and archaeological wood. The book clearly shows how collaboration between engineers, physicists, biologists and chemists and conservators of different types of materials can lead to new research in conservation science. This book is crucial reading for conservators and conservation scientists, as well as for technical art historians, providing key methodological case studies of polychromy from different temporal and geographical contexts.

• conservation and treatment of wood
• works of art on wood
• development of conservation materials
• methods for cleaning and consolidation of wood
• historical paintings
• ceiling decorations
• from Syrian rooms to finely carved objects
• conservation and treatment of waterlogged wood
• conservation and treatment of ecclesiastical objects
• wooden heritage
• conservation of wooden artefacts
• synchrotron-based analysis
• cleaning using gels and emulsions
• technical study of polychromy on wood
• Wood Science and Technology

• Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

  Austin Nevin

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

  Malgorzata Sawicki

Austin Nevin, chemist and conservator, is a Researcher at the CNR-IFN where he has worked since 2011, and he is the coordinator of the CNR-IFN research group.

His research focuses on the analysis of paintings and painting materials, and the study of ancient and modern cultural heritage using optical and spectroscopic techniques. He is the co-author of over 40 publications, one of the editors of the Springer series Cultural Heritage Science and a member of the permanent scientific committee of the LACONA and of the TECHNART conferences. He has served as the coordintor of the Scientific Research Working Group of ICOM-CC (from 2011-2014) and is a Council Member and Fellow of the IIC (since 2013). Following a degree in Chemistry (Mchem) from the University of Oxford (2001) and a 3-year MA in the Consrvation of Paintings (Wall Paintings) from the Courtauld Institute of Art (2004), Nevin went on to obtain a PhD from the Courtauld entitled “Fluorescence and Raman Spectroscopy for the analysis of proteinb-based binding media” (2008). Between 2004-2007 he won a Marie Curie Early Stage Training Fellowship at IESL-FORTH (Greece) where his research focussed on the analysis of paintings using laser-based techniques.

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