Fresco paintings studied by unilateral NMR

Unilateral NMR has been used to monitor the state of conservation of frescoes in the Vasari's house in Florence. The causes of deterioration of ancient frescoes are varied, which result in the detachment and crumbling of the painted film from the supporting plaster and in the outcropping of salts. Unilateral measurements of Hahn echo performed on such frescoes have allowed a perfect identification of the detachment of the painted film from the plaster. The presence of soluble salts on the pictorial film affects the spin-spin relaxation times, T2. It is then possible using this technique, to characterize the effect of chemical treatments, of cleansing and consolidation procedures using the distribution of T2 spin-spin relaxation times.