The Noninvasive Analysis of Painted Surfaces: Scientific Impact and Conservation Practice

While nondestructive and microdestructive analytical methods are often essential for the study and understanding of paintings, recent development in portable and noninvasive instrumentation has led to growing interest in the applicability of techniques to the study of paintings. Further, as new instrumentation becomes commercially available and more affordable, conservators and scientists are able to use noninvasive techniques for monitoring and analysis in new ways. A focus of the six papers in these proceedings is the interpretation of analytical results from portable instrumentation.