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BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE: BIORESTORATION AND BIODETERIORATION
Innovations and Benefits
Bacteria and fungi are at the basis of innovative procedures developed by ENEA for restoration issues still to be satisfactorily addressed or likely to have a solution only by the use of products that are toxic to operators and aggressive to the artwork. The collection of “ENEA-Lilith” strains is a crowd of original microrganisms, spontaneous and non-pathogenic, which can ensure “tailored” interventions.
Selectivity, atoxicity, compatibility with constitutive materials and the environment are just a few distinctive characteristics of these procedures marking this biotechnology in line with the principles of compatibility and retreatability, which pertain to a more sustainable conservation strategy.
Winner of Smart Communities award in SMAU Bologna 2015.
ENEA Patent- N.PCT/IT2014/000246
Use
- Selective cleaning of surfaces of artworks by applying micro-packs with immobilized cells.
- Filling of gaps in stone artworks for consolidation, by deposition of calcite of microbial origin.
- Diagnosis of biofilms growing on the surfaces of artworks and monuments, responsible for their deterioration.
- Use of microbial products for the control of biodeteriogens in substitution of synthetic biocides.
Applications and ongoing Activities
- Removal of waxes and urban smog from marble statues (GNAM Gallery).
- Removal of artificial resins and iron oxides from frescoes and marbles (Carracci Gallery, Palazzo Farnese).
- Removal of stratified deposits from mural paintings of Casina Farnese on the Palatine Hill.
- Removal of “colletta with oil” from very fragile wood painting in the Vatican Museums in Rome.
- Study for the removal of vinyl glues from the frescoes of the Palazzo dei Papi in Avignon. Diagnosis of biofilms responsible for the deterioration of the surfaces of the Caracalla Mithreus and biocleaning by using atoxic microbial products.
- Ongoing activities: protection of stone artworks from biodeteriogens by using microbial and vegetal products (at Vatican Gardens). Removal of paraloids and deposits of different nature from a Roman statue (“Bacco con Cesto” at Palace of Venaria). Biocleaning of carbonate films from frescos (in the municipality of Bitti, Nu).
CUSTOM Thanks to its flexibility, the biorestoration service can be adjusted to different needs and contexts
“If you are interested in this technology/service, please send a message to eneaperlinnovazione@enea.it, by specifying the title of the technology/service of your interest, the reason for your request and your contacts or the contacts of a person from your organization/company.
