• DOI:10.1039/c3an90096g
• Corpus ID: 7086397

Molecular analysis for art, archaeometry and conservation.

@article{Casadio2013MolecularAF,
  title={Molecular analysis for art, archaeometry and conservation.},
  author={Francesca Casadio and Richard P. Van Duyne},
  journal={The Analyst},
  year={2013},
  volume={138 24},
  pages={
          7276-8
        }
}

• F. Casadio, R. V. Van Duyne
• Published 12 November 2013
• Sociology
• The Analyst

It is a pleasure to present this webthemed issue of Analyst and Analytical Methods centered on ‘Molecular Analysis for Art, Archaeometry and Conservation’. The appearance of this themed issue is timely, attesting to the development and high degree of sophistication of a strongly interdisciplinary eld that in the last decade has grown exponentially in ambition and reach, as testied by the recent establishment in 2012 of a new Gordon Research Conference on Scientic Methods in Cultural Heritage Research. To meet the global challenge of preserving our rich cultural heritage and advancing our knowledge of it, researchers have harnessed the potential of science and technology to bring new research and discoveries to the arts. This web-themed issue showcases such exciting new research and will have particular relevance for those interested in the study and preservation of great art of the past and present, but it also highlights how most of the analytical breakthroughs described here have great technology-transfer potential to elds that range from semiconductors to security. Challenges to current analytical methods and the need to develop new ones are posed by the requirements of irreplaceable, severely size-limited and hierarchically-complex samples, as well as by a desire to perform highly detailed and sensitive mapping of molecular information at multiple lengthand time-scales on the surface as well as in the bulk of objects of cultural signicance. The fact that this web-themed issue spans the scope of both journals is a testimony to the ability of the eld to push the envelope of the analytical sciences as well as to its characteristic of applying established analytical techniques to address research questions in art, archaeometry and conservation that have high societal impact. The deeply emotional and edifying power of these contributions is conrmed by the many times in which the articles gathered for this web-themed issue have made it to the cover of their respective journals.