Scientists have assessed 'health' of 12 paintings by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali to preserve them, through a method similar to the one used to measure blood sugar in humans without a needle.
The new method diagnoses painting canvases from the back, without disturbing a single fibre, to see if they can withstand the stress of handling and travel.
Conservators assessed the 'health' of the canvases which are known to degrade with time due to acidity and environmental conditions. Once a canvas is brittle, expensive conservation is required.
While all 12 were shown to be in a good condition and can continue to be enjoyed safely, there was evidence of the early canvases approaching the threshold for safe travel.
Interestingly, it was also shown that these same canvases were made of inexpensive low-quality cotton, used by the young Dali who later became known also for his extravagant lifestyle.
By shining invisible near infrared light on the canvas through fibre optics, scientists obtained information about the 'health' of the painting from the reflection of the light.
Since canvas is the carrier of paint, any tears or other mechanical degradation could lead to loss of the image if the canvas is too brittle.
"While distressed paint layers can be evaluated visually from the front, there has been no method available so far to evaluate the fragility of canvas without actually cutting off a piece of it, which is certainly unacceptable," said Irene Civil, Head of the Conservation Department of Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation from Figueres, Spain.
"The method finally gives conservators the possibility to non-invasively evaluate the brittleness of a canvas, this was previously impossible. Also, we can now quickly assess what fibres the canvas is made of, which is important when designing a conservation treatment," said Marta Oriola from the University of Barcelona.
