L’evoluzione degli studi microclimatici per la conservazione di manufatti in ambiente museale nel corso degli ultimi 20 anni

The risk of damage in cultural heritage material, is related to its vulnerability and the exposure time to one or more hazards. Microclimate conditions of the air surrounding the cultural object are among these hazards, since they can affect preservation conditions, making timely the study on microclimate to pinpoint the causes of degradation and, if any, to reduce its occurrences. For this contribution, we have thoroughly analysed microclimate investigations published on scientific peer-reviewed journals to outline the evolution of these studies after the publication of the Italian legislative decree Dlg. 10-05-2001 devoted to the conservation of cultural heritage, specifically with respect to the section on “Environmental Parameters”. The first decade (2001-2010) can be considered as preparatory for the thriving period of the European standardisation; the second decade (2011-2020) can be defined as of awareness, since stakeholders are much more involved to study the climate-induced risks; finally, the last period (2021-2024) can be defined as revisional, since it is opening the path for the revision of the existing standards and guidelines. Three main aspects are emerged from this review: 1) microclimate monitoring is becoming a common practice, but high expertise is needed to analyse data and to assess climate-induced risks; 2) many years are necessary to systematically apply a standard; 3) the glossary must be necessarily uniformed and unambiguous to make it possible research transfer and to lay the foundation for a new legislative pathway.