Detectors are a key feature of the contemporary scientific approach to cultural heritage (CH), both for diagnostics and conservation. INFN-CHNet is the network of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics that develops and applies new instrumentation for the study of CH. This process results in both optimized traditional state-of-the-art and highly innovative detection setups for spectrometric techniques. Examples of the former are X-rays, gamma-rays, visible-light and particles spectrometers tailored for CH applications, with optimized performances, reliability, weight, transportability, cost, absorbed power, and complementarity with other techniques. Regarding the latter, examples are ARDESIA, the array of detectors at the DAΦNE-Light facility, the MAXRS detection setup at the Riken-RAL muon beamline and the imaging facilities at the LENA Laboratory. Paths for next-generation instruments have been suggested, as in the case of the X-ray Superconductive Detectors and X-ray Microcalorimeter Spectrometers, allowing astonishing improvement in energy resolution. Many issues in CH can now be addressed thanks to scientific techniques exploiting the existing detectors, while many others are still to be addressed and require the development of new approaches and detectors.

A concise insight into the outputs provided by the latest prototype of visible‐near infrared (Vis‐NIR) multispectral scanner (National Research Council‐National Institute of Optics, CNR‐INO, Italy) is presented. The analytical data acquired on an oil paintingMadonna of the Rabbitby É. Manet are described. In this work, the Vis‐NIR was complemented with X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping for the chemical and spatial characterization of several pigments. The spatially registered Vis‐NIR data facilitated their processing by spectral correlation mapping (SCM) and artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm, respectively, for pigment mapping and improved visibility ofpentimentiand of underdrawing style. The data provided several key elements for the comparison with a homonymous original work by Titian studied within the ARCHive LABoratory (ARCHLAB) transnational access project.

At present, macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) is one of the most essential analytical methods exploited by heritage science. By providing spatial distribution elemental maps, not only does it allow for material characterisation but also to understand, or at least to have a likely idea of, the production techniques of an analysed object. INFN-CHNet, the Cultural Heritage Network of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, designed and developed a MA-XRF scanner aiming to be a lightweight, easy to transport piece of equipment for use in in situ measurements. In this study, the INFN-CHNet MA-XRF scanner was employed for the analysis of a painting by the Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden. The painting belongs to the collection of the Uffizi gallery in Florence and was analysed during conservation treatments at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, one of the main conservation centres in Italy. The research aims were to characterise the materials employed by the artist and to possibly understand his painting technique. Although MA-XRF alone cannot provide a comprehensive characterisation, it nonetheless proved to be an invaluable tool for providing an initial overview or hypothesis of the painting materials and techniques used.

This paper discusses a cross-disciplinary, international collaboration aimed at researching a series of 15th century choir books at the abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore on the homonymous island in Venice. Produced for the abbey itself, the books have never left the island during their 500-year history, thereby allowing a unique opportunity to analyse historic artefacts, which have undergone little modification over time. Prompted by ongoing cataloguing work on the manuscripts, a week-long analytical campaign using a combination of non-invasive analytical methods used in portable configuration allowed the comprehensive characterisation of ten volumes. The manuscripts’ palette and painting techniques were analysed using near-infrared imaging, reflectance spectroscopy in the UV-vis-NIR range, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence mapping and digital microscopy. The paper will discuss the challenges linked to the fragility and the large dimensions of the volumes as well as the most interesting results of the investigation. These include the detection of unusual painting materials such as bismuth ink, as well as the discovery of a less homogeneous palette than originally expected, which prompted a partial revision of the attribution of the decoration in one of the volumes to a single artist.