Assembling a setup for infrared multispectral imaging of medieval codices

In the last decades, new technologies have enhanced the diagnostic capability and the philological-artistical interpretation of artworks through precise identification of the materials. A collaboration between Departments of Sapienza is in progress to improve multispectral imaging and to apply this technique to miniatures dated between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The purpose is the creation of a device for in situ measurements, able to perform both conventional reflectometry in the overtone region and multispectral analysis in the fingerprint region (Mid InfraRed, MIR). The extension of imaging to MIR can provide information on the chemical nature of miniature materials (pigments, organic compounds, and metals) and will be realized using plasmonic filters, as well as dedicated infrared cameras.