An Innovative Method for Dimensioning the Crossbeams of an Original Painted Panel, Based on Mechanical Testing, and on Numerically Modelling Its Distortion Tendency

Coupling numerical and experimental methods to characterise the mechanical behaviour of the Mona Lisa: a method to enhance the conservation of panel paintings

“…Some have investigated the hygro-mechanical behaviour of the main materials making up such artwork, tested on new materials [1][2][3][4][5], others the hygro-mechanical behaviour of mock-ups tested in the laboratory [6][7][8][9][10] and some others numerical modelling based on mock-up behaviour or literature data to interpret their behaviour [11,[12][13][14]. The present research rather focuses on an authentic artwork, as already proposed by [15][16][17][18][19][20], following the consideration that each panel painting shows a specific hygro-mechanical behaviour which should be known for its preventive and remedial conservation, as highlighted both by testing and numerical modelling in [21,22]. Since 2004, the wooden panel on which Leonardo da Vinci painted his Mona Lisa has been studied by an international research team under the request of the curators of the Louvre Museum.…”

“…Previously published work [23][24][25][26][27] confirmed the relevance of integrating computational tools with experimental data directly obtained from the original artwork being studied. This approach, which has been gaining ground in recent years [20][21][22]28], has necessarily required collaboration among scientists, conservators and restorers, and can be considered as an important step towards fully integrating this kind of research for the in-depth knowledge and conservation of the physical structure of the wooden artwork. Starting from such approach, the considerable difficulties found in fully interpreting the results of the experimental observations and measurements have highlighted the complexity of the phenomena observed, and the variability from case to case of the observed behaviours.…”