Imaging of artwork is an important aspect of art conservation, technical art history, and art authentication. Many forms of near-infrared (NIR) imaging are used by conservators, archaeologists, forensic scientists, and technical art historians to examine the underdrawings of paintings, to detect damages and restorations, to enhance faded or overpainted inscriptions, to study artists' techniques, to examine questioned documents, and as a nondestructive analytical tool for identifying certain pigments. The spectroscopic principles underlying the NIR imaging of artwork offer a powerful and engaging teaching opportunity for educators offering a chemistry-of-art course. This article introduces an inexpensive imaging system based on a night-vision webcam. The low cost of the total system (less than $20) could allow every student in a science course to use a NIR imaging camera. Examples are given to show the many techniques of NIR imaging that are important in the fields of art conservation and technical art history. Furthermore, additional spectroscopic experiments exploring the diffuse reflection spectra of traditional pigments in the visible and NIR regions are recommended to help explain the numerous interaction phenomena responsible for the NIR images of artwork and other objects and the occasionally bewildering images acquired outside the familiar visible spectrum.

In addition to the wear and tear of time and exposure that normally endanger museum col lections, larger scale events such as September 11, 2001 , the Northeast Blackout of 2003 , Hurricanes Katrina and Irene and the Vi rgi nia Earthquake of 201 1 have emphasized the threats to collections and underscored the importance of a comprehensive ap proach to risk planning. In response, the American Museum of Natural History has been steadfastly committed to identifying a complete picture of its collections priorities, and is accom plishing an overall risk assessment of its research, exhibit and library/archive collections. The assessment model used for this three-phase project is based on the Cultural Property Risk Analysis Model (CPRAM) developed by Robert Wal ler and colleagues at the Canadian Museum of Nature and adapted to accommodate the specific needs of a large , complex institution. These assessments have provided AMNH ad ministrators with info rma tion crucial to making long-term strategy and policy decisions about red ucing and mitigati ng risks to collections.