Picture this: a safe way to transport priceless paintings - Futuris

At Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art crate up “Narcissus”, a masterpiece by Caravaggio, in preparation for a long journey. Like many fine art works, this late 16th century painting is being loaned to a temporary exhibition in another museum.
A moment’s inattention during the arduous journey could damage this invaluable work. So the art gallery teamed up with with engineers from a European research project to test a smart technology system to keep an eye on such priceless objects.
“This gallery has a very rich collection beginning from the 12th century and many of our works are very valuable - not just economically, as you can imagine, but also culturally,” said Cinzia Ammannato, the gallery’s director.
While visible damage almost never happens in transit, restorers are still concerned with microscopic-level problems that may arise especially if the art piece gets exposed to extreme ambient conditions.
Ugo Maria Colesanti, a research engineer in computer systems and and head of of Sensing Systems, explained some of the measures taken in crating up the painting: “We’re applying sensors with a special glue to the aluminium parts and after it solidifies we can correctly measure the vibrations during the journey.”
Some of the sensors are attached to the frame of the painting, others - on the crate. Comparing their measurements will show how efficiently the special container absorbs shocks.
Then the painting inside the truck must be securely protected from changes in temperature, humidity and vibration. Intelligent sensors continue the monitoring along the way.
The sensor data is constantly recorded, logging the micro-climate changes and any shocks that might occur.
The smart devices involved, developed at the University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, don’t use much energy - that gives them weeks or even months of autonomy.
READ MORE: www.euronews.com/2015/01/26/pi...
euronews knowledge brings you a fresh mix of the world's most interesting know-hows, directly from space and sci-tech experts.
Subscribe for your dose of space and sci-tech: kzbin.info_c...
Made by euronews, the most watched news channel in Europe.