Multispectral Reflectance and UV Fluorescence Microscopy to study painting's cross sections

UV Fluorescence microscopy is a powerful mean for visualizing and identifying structures in a specimen, and it has long been used in many applications, including pigment identification in artworks. Typical painting cross section samples are the result of multiple layers and especially for paintings produced from the thirteen to sixteen centuries, it is possible that for different pigments a different binder has been used, resulting in a complex stratification of materials. In this paper we propose a novel multispectral microscopy imaging system, which is specially designed for cultural heritage application, capable of acquiring both reflectance and fluorescence images in different wavebands, so to be able to document UV fluorescence emission and reflectance spectra. (paper)