Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, Palais du Louvre, Paris, FR

ARCHLAB Available facility: Data Bases and records

The access  is offered within the Department of Archives and Innovative Information Technology, which is located at the C2RMF in the Palais du Louvre site in Paris.
The Department preserves all the records from the studies carried out at the laboratory since its creation in 1931. Especially on the works of the museums of France, from Prehistory to 21th Century (main categories : paintings, archaeology - ceramic, glass, stone, metal, textiles -, sculpture, graphic arts, modern and contemporary materials, decorative arts - enamel, orfevrery, earthenware -, bio-materials).
ARCHLAB access will be to the files of the laboratory, that include essentially:
-   scientific reports (28,000) and analytical data;
-  scientific images (150,000) such as X-rays, infrared and fluorescence images, infrared reflectography, multispectral images, 3D-scanning.
Researchers will have access to the EROS multilingual database, that is not currently accessible outside the C2RMF. Developed by the Department of Archives, the EROS database contains 69,000 references to the records kept at the C2RMF. All the works and objects that have been studied are recorded in this database, with search based on multiple criteria (historical, technical, etc.). Reports and scientific images are partly available in the database and a search engine allows full text searching in all the attached electronic reports (14,000).
Reports and data that are not yet available electronically will be obviously available in hard copy.
Researchers will also benefit from the assistance of researchers from the C2RMF in their field of research and of the documentation staff. 
Please note that access will not be granted to data in course of publication.

FIXLAB (PLATFORM A) Available facility: AGLAE (Accélérateur Grand Louvre d'Analyse Elémentaire)

AGLAE is a laboratory for ion beam analysis (IBA) open to transnational access, serviced by a team specialised in conducting tandem accelerators. The team is headed by a scientist associated with three engineers and technicians for operating ion beams, optimising beam currents and tuning energy. The team has also in charge of maintenance, electronics and mechanics developments. The specificity of AGLAE is its capacity to implement the whole set of IBA techniques in air, thus permitting the non-invasive analysis of artworks of any size and shape.
The IBA experiments which can be routinely performed by AGLAE are:
- PIXE-PIGE-RBS or NRA- various energies, various currents, various beam spot diameters from 20 µm to 500 µm
- PIXE-RBS elemental mappings.
For expert users, more sophisticated and critical experiments can be also performed after agreement with the AGLAE team. Typical users for access to AGLAE are scientists, curators, art historians, archaeologists, conservators, restorers, who usually carry out research on constituent materials of movable artworks, devoted to the study of the manufacturing techniques for a contribution to art-historical studies, or devoted to the characterisation of the artwork conservation state or to establish the effectiveness of a conservation treatment.
The duration of each type of measurement is variable:
- for a common PIXE-PIGE experiment between 5 and 30 minutes are necessary, depending of the nature of the material and the sensitivity required;
- for RBS or NRA, the average duration is 15 minutes;
- for an elemental micromapping, a typical acquisition time is between 2 and 4 hours.
Access to the AGLAE equipment is given for a minimum duration of 2 days in order to secure the results. Thus depending on the artefact, one can change the ion species and/or the energy, and also optimise the detection set-up. The access to AGLAE is currently given for periods from 2 days and not exceeding 5 days. For 2 days of experiment, a reasonable stay in the laboratory is 4 days.
The data interpretation is done by users inside the laboratory with the assistance of the scientist of the CNRS-C2RMF. The results may be completed with other techniques (SEM, XRD, XRF, ICP-AES, FTIR, Raman…). 
A desk is available for the research guests near the AGLAE control room. They have access to a computer connected to internet, which can be used for processing the IBA spectra and preparing preliminary reports. The users have also, inside the laboratory, free access to the library specialised in the science applied to conservation and research in art and archaeology, and also art history, museums and temporary exhibitions catalogues, authors monographs… (more than 5.500 books). A safety regulation exists with respect to both the personnel and the artworks, which must be followed by the guests. The entrance of the laboratory is strictly controlled and there is a safe room to store artworks.

MOLAB Available facility: Integrated system for X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction in the same area

Compact, portable XRD-XRF device, developed by CNRS-LC2RMF within EU-ARTECH , a prototype instrument that allows in-situ XRD measurements for the identification of crystalline solids on mural, panel and canvas paintings, stones, ceramics, etc . Further, the equipment allows XRF identification of the chemical elements present at exactly the same point as investigated by diffraction.
The system is very light and represents the unique example in Europe of a device for in-situ X-ray diffraction measurements even in uncomfortable conditions (scaffoldings of restoration, archeological sites, etc.). Validation measurements have been carried out on different types of objects, as paintings, ceramics and metals.
Convergent results have been obtained between XRD and XRF, Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy measurements carried out in situ on the same objects, demonstrating the very good response of the device.

Provider' general information:

CNRS-LC2RMF/LOA

Website address:

WELCOME DESK Contact Person:

Name: Clemence RAYNAUD (ARCHLAB)

Name: Claire PACHECO (FIXLAB)