ALMA Laboratory performs materials research for restoration/conservation practice and for art-historic evaluation of paintings within interdisciplinary projects. The output of the materials analysis includes also interpretation of the painting technique in microscale – i.e., technical expression of the painter, the choice of materials and the method of their processing. All parts of the laboratory are involved in this contextual description. In particular, it includes experimental research of materials, optimization of analytical procedures and description of stratigraphy of painting layers based on experience and comparative study of archival samples.
In combination with macroscale techniques capable of visualizing the internal structure of artworks (e.g., large-area X-ray fluorescence scanning, high-resolution X-ray radiography and IR reflectography), the laboratory is able to offer a very comprehensive result, which significantly helps to refine historical, regional and/or workshop attribution of the painting or of later interventions. The laboratory's expertise covers all time periods of painted art - from the beginning of European painting till modern and contemporary art.
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