The mobile support paintings (mainly canvas or on wood paintings) were one of the first fields of application of the diagnostics of art works, cause of their preciousness and delicacy.

Over the years, many useful analytical techniques have been employed and developed to investigate and understand these manufactures, most of which are non-invasive and non-destructive, given the need to not damage the painting surface.

“Il Cenacolo” makes use of the most common techniques for the diagnosis on paintings, including the photographic ones: the oblique light photos, the NIR reflectography, the UV photography and the X-ray fluorescence allow the detection of the preparatory drawing, retouching, previous restorations or re-integration of the gaps, until the identification of hidden painting layers. There are other more specific techniques such as colorimetry, portable X-ray fluorescence or Raman spectroscopy for the identification of the pigments, and the FT-IR spectroscopy for the characterization of glazes and varnishes: further investigations may be conducted to determine the origin of the supports (on wood paintings and canvases).
The information on technical and artistic characteristics and the state of conservation of the manufactures obtained by the use of such techniques are very important during the restoration to facilitate and to guide the intervention.