Protection of Our Cultural Heritage: Examination of Bending Issues During the Preservation of Wall-Paintings

Two wall paintings from the nineteenth century that were extracted from two different neo-classical mansions at Ioannina, Greece, were examined. In the second wall painting, a bending phenomenon was observed after the utilization of the framing protocol during the preservation process. The specimens were studied with an integrated approach, combining stoichiometric, and spectroscopic techniques. Spectral profiling techniques were used as a first step in evaluating the composition variation between the two paintings. Computed Tomography was employed (μCT) for the examination of the structure of the substrate. Results indicated that the absence of reinforcement inside the second wall painting as well as the poor diffusion of the materials used for the preservation process was the primary cause for bending.