The role of analytical chemists in the research on the cultural heritage

Abstract

Professionals belonging to very different areas of expertise are usually involved in research on the cultural heritage. Among the names given to the person in charge of analyses are conservator or material scientist, as the most usual, but never "analytical chemist", despite analytical equipment, obtainment of analytical data and application of chemometrics approaches to obtain analytical results are always involved in their tasks. This article tries to be a call of attention to analytical chemists by showing the different areas within the research on cultural heritage in which they should be involved to provide the necessary analytical information. Examples of the analytical equipment involved in these studies, the research on pigments, dyes, binders and coatings, dating and cleaning of artworks are given, thus showing that analytical information on chemical aspects related to research on the cultural heritage should be, evidently, conducted in cooperation with analytical chemists.

Keywords: Artwork cleaning; Colorants; Cultural heritage; Dating; Dyes; Pigments.