Evaluation of the effect of different paint cross section preparation methods on the performances of Fourier transformed infrared microscopy in total reflection mode

Both of the preparation procedures were applied to obtain two paint cross-sections from fragments collected in the same area from a mural temple (15th century) located in Thubeken Lhakhang, Nepal. The cross sections were analysed with FTIR microscopy in total reflection mode, in order to compare the effect of the preparation methods on the spectral response. Line-scan imaging measurements were carried out on both of the samples and the resulting chemical images were re-constructed by a chemometric approach based on principal component analysis.