Material analysis in art

For the identification of the material composition of artworks so-called non-destructive analytical methods are preferred for obvious reasons, which allow the determination of the chemical composition without sampling or modifying the investigated objects. Miniaturization in recent years in the field of equipment and computer technology also enables a non-invasive determination of the material composition in collections or archaeological sites to avoid transport or climate change for the art and cultural history works. The techniques used are X-ray Fluorescence analysis (XRF) and the compound-specific methods of UV-Vis, infrared (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy.