Skip to main content

4th International Congress on Chemistry for Cultural Heritage

New Content ItemScience, and in particular chemistry, plays an increasing important role in the sustainable preservation of our cultural heritage. As such, state-of-the-art analytical instrumentations and methods are continuously improved for the investigation of ancient materials, with the aim of understanding their technologies and degradation process.

This development is reflected by the numerous contributions to the ChemCH conference, a two-year congress organised by EuCheMS, the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences. 

In July 2016, ChemCH was organised for the fourth time in Brussels, with previous edition in Ravenna in 2010, Istanbul in 2012 and Vienna in 2014. A selection of the most significant contributions of the 2016 edition were compiled in this special issue of Heritage Science.

Editor: Dr Geert van der Snickt


  2. This article discusses the technical examination of five flower and fruit still life paintings by the seventeenth century artist Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606–1684). The painter is known for his meticulously comp...

    Authors: Nouchka De Keyser, Geert Van der Snickt, Annelies Van Loon, Stijn Legrand, Arie Wallert and Koen Janssens
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:38
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  3. Magritte’s composition La condition humaine, 1935 was found to conceal under its paint layers an entire quarter of a lost composition by the artist, until recently only known from a small black/white catalogue il...

    Authors: Alice Tavares da Silva, Stijn Legrand, Geert Van der Snickt, Rupert Featherstone, Koen Janssens and Giorgia Bottinelli
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:37
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  4. Infrared reflectography (IRR) remains an important method to visualize underdrawing and compositional changes in paintings. Older IRR camera systems are being replaced with near-infrared cameras consisting of ...

    Authors: John K. Delaney, Giorgio Trumpy, Marie Didier, Paola Ricciardi and Kathryn A. Dooley
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:32
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. This paper reports on how the application of macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) imaging, in combination with the re-examination of existing paint cross-sections, has led to the discovery of a new pigment in Rem...

    Authors: Annelies van Loon, Petria Noble, Anna Krekeler, Geert Van der Snickt, Koen Janssens, Yoshinari Abe, Izumi Nakai and Joris Dik
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:26
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  7. The painting Saint Jerome, part of the collection of the Maagdenhuis Museum (Antwerp, Belgium), is attributed to the young Anthony van Dyck (1613–1621) with reservations. The painting displays remarkable composit...

    Authors: Astrid Harth, Geert Van der Snickt, Olivier Schalm, Koen Janssens and Griet Blanckaert
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:22
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  8. The main purpose of these studies was to assess the possibility of applying the technique of solid phase microextraction (SPME)–gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) to detect the activity of moulds o...

    Authors: Tomasz Sawoszczuk and Justyna Syguła-Cholewińska
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:20
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. Vincent van Gogh’s still lifes Irises and Roses were investigated to shed light onto the degree to which the paintings had changed, both individually and in relation to each other since they were painted, particu...

    Authors: Silvia A. Centeno, Charlotte Hale, Federico Carò, Anna Cesaratto, Nobuko Shibayama, John Delaney, Kathryn Dooley, Geert van der Snickt, Koen Janssens and Susan Alyson Stein
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:18
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  10. Despite the fact that Kees van Dongen was one of the most famous painters of the twentieth century, only little information about his palette and his technique is available. To contribute to the characterizati...

    Authors: Elodie Herens, Catherine Defeyt, Philippe Walter and David Strivay
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:14
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  11. Because PU coatings offer a compromise between aesthetic and performance expectations, unachievable with other types of industrial paints, they are currently recognized as the most appropriate option to coat s...

    Authors: Catherine Defeyt, Michael Schilling, Julia Langenbacher, John Escarsega and Rachel Rivenc
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:15
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  12. This review is to be considered part of the development of the MEMORI dosimeter, to evaluate the impact of climate (relative humidity, temperature, illumination, etc., including volatile organic compounds) on ...

    Authors: Alessia Coccato, Luc Moens and Peter Vandenabeele
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:12
    Content type: Review Published on:

  13. Like acrylics and alkyds, polyurethanes (PUs) represent an important class of industrial paints adopted by 20th and 21st artists; primarily by those creating outdoor painted sculptures (OPS). Because PU coatin...

    Authors: Catherine Defeyt, Julia Langenbacher and Rachel Rivenc
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:11
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  14. It is reported the application of the voltammetry of microparticles (VMP), complemented with attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and field emission scanning electron...

    Authors: Annette S. Ortiz-Miranda, Antonio Doménech-Carbó, María Teresa Doménech-Carbó, Laura Osete-Cortina, Fernando Bolívar-Galiano and Inés Martín-Sánchez
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:8
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  15. The characterisation of atelier materials and of the historical commercial formulation of paint materials has recently gained new interest in the field of conservation science applied to modern and contemporar...

    Authors: Ilaria Degano, Pietro Tognotti, Diane Kunzelman and Francesca Modugno
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:7
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  16. This experiment demonstrates the large potential of macro-XRF imaging for the visualization of fragments of medieval manuscripts hidden in early–modern bookbindings. The invention of the printing press in the ...

    Authors: Jorien R. Duivenvoorden, Anna Käyhkö, Erik Kwakkel and Joris Dik
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:6
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  17. Innovative nanostructured treatments for stone conservation, based on dispersions of photoactive TiO2 nanoparticles, recently studied in our research group, provided interesting results after laboratory testing. ...

    Authors: Francesca Gherardi, Davide Gulotta, Sara Goidanich, Annalisa Colombo and Lucia Toniolo
    Citation: Heritage Science 2017 5:4
    Content type: Research article Published on: