About us

Read more about the Heritage Science Group and its history. The HSG has years of experience, years of national and international projects and collaboration with other organisations

Since 1990, CNR-INO has been working in the field of cultural heritage diagnostics, an activity that led to the establishment of the Heritage Science Group – HSG, a research unit devoted to the study and experimentation of innovative optical techniques as well as to the design and creation of advanced instruments for the study of works of art. The research is aimed at the development of optical methodologies and opto-electronic devices for the non-invasive analysis of cultural heritage. Techniques and instruments are developed and implemented within research projects, both national and international, carried out in close collaboration with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD), prominent international research centres, conservation institutes, and museums inside the Prototype Development Lab. The prototypes are perfected through repeated and systematic interactions with experts (e.g. conservators), thanks to the logistic support of the Optical Metrology Lab hosted inside the Restoration

Laboratory of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Fortezza da Basso, Florence), opened in 1998. The research experience carried out in this lab is relevant, thanks to the synergistic interaction with conservators and art historians, leading to the realization and improvement of innovative diagnostic systems, whose effectiveness is verified daily. As an example, the VIS-NIR multispectral scanner is part of the MOLAB (Mobile LABoratory) program, a platform providing access to cutting-edge instrumentation within European projects (such as Eu-ARTECH, CHARISMA, IPERION CH and the ongoing IPERION HS project).
Since 2021, researchers from the unit in Pozzuoli have also become part of the HSG with new instrumentation.

Our path

IPERION HS

2020-present

Integrating Platforms for the European Research Infrastructure ON Heritage Science

IPERION HS is a consortium of 24 partners from 23 countries that contributes to establishing a pan-European research infrastructure on heritage science. It offers training and access to a wide range of high-level scientific instruments, methodologies, data and tools for advancing knowledge and innovation in heritage science.

E-RIHS IP (Implementation Phase)

2020-Present

European Research Infrastructure on the Heritage Science (Implementation Phase)

E-RIHS IP is the implementation phase of E-RIHS ERIC. E-RIHS will become an ERIC with a Central Hub as the access point to the RI and distributed nodes operating at national levels in various legal frameworks.
The mission is to be the reference Research Infrastructure at the global level for improving understanding and sustainable preservation of heritage objects and sites, with a good societal impact.

E-RIHS.it

2015-Present

European Research Infrastructure on Heritage Science (Italian node)

E-RIHS.it (formerly IPERION CH.it) is the Italian node of the European Research Infrastructure on Heritage Science. It offers access to scientific tools and expertise and training in the field of Heritage Science.

E-RIHS PP (Preparatory Phase)

2017-2020

European Research Infrastructure on Heritage Science (Preparatory Phase)

E-RIHS PP is the Preparatory Phase of E-RIHS, the European Research Infrastructure on Heritage Science Europe on the way to become an ERIC.
By the conclusion of the E-RIHS PP project, there are 16 nations (15 EU Member States plus Israel), 2 ERICs, 3 institutions representing scientific communities, and 6 observers among the over 100 heritage science institutions from across the world that are a part of this community

SSHOC

2019-2022

Social Science and Humanities Open Cloud

The EU-funded SSHOC (Social Sciences and Humanities Open Cloud) project aims to encourage secure environments for sharing and using sensitive and confidential data. The project will contribute to the European Open Science agenda and the realisation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). SSHOC aligns with prescribed cluster activities in order to create a social sciences and humanities cloud that can fully encompass infrastructural support for the study of social and cultural phenomena. The greater intention is to create a European open cloud ecosystem for social sciences and humanities, consisting of an infrastructural and human component.

E-RIHS

2017-2019

European Research Infrastructure on Heritage Science

E-RIHS is the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science that supports research on heritage interpretation, preservation, documentation and management. E-RIHS mission is to deliver integrated access to expertise, data and technologies through a standardized approach, and to integrate world-leading European facilities into an organisation with a clear identity and a strong cohesive role within the global heritage science community.

IPERION CH

2015-2019

Integrated Platform for the European Research Infrastructure on Cultural Heritage

IPERION CH is a consortium of 24 partners that aims at establishing a unique European research infrastructure for restoration and conservation of Cultural Heritage. It offers training and access to a wide range of high-level scientific instruments, methodologies, data and tools for advancing knowledge and innovation in the preservation of Cultural Heritage. IPERION CH is part of E-RIHS ESFRI proposal.

INSIDDE

2013-2016

Integration of technological Solutions for Imaging, Detection, and Digitisation of hidden Elements in artworks

The development of graphene-based transmitters and receivers working in different frequency bands within the submm-wave/terahertz range is the basis to build a scanner in the framework of the INSIDDE project. This is expected to allow, together with image processing techniques and a high-resolution structured light scanner, the identification of pigments, brushstrokes or underdrawing steps in paintings as well as to take a look inside sealed pottery.

CHARISMA

2009-2015

Cultural heritage Advanced Research Infrastructures: Synergy for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Conservation/Restoration

CHARISMA is an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative that brings together 22 leading European institutions developing research on artwork materials and their deterioration finalised to the conservation of cultural heritage. The consortium has the objective to optimise the use of infrastructures through a coordinated program of transnational access, joint research and networking activities. Transnational access offers applicants opportunities to exploit the services of three different and complementary groups of facilities, embedded in a multidisciplinary environment involving material science and artwork conservation/restoration.

EuARTECH

2004-2009

Access, research and technology for the conservation of the European cultural heritage

Access, research and technology for the conservation of the European cultural heritage
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/506171

1st OCT measurement on a work of art

2004

1st OCT measurement on a artwork

A first OCT measurement was applied on a work of art. The results were published in 2006 in Studies in Conservation

HSG established

1998

HSG established

A CNR-INO laboratory was established at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, Italy.

1st IR scanner developed at CNR-INO

1989

1st IR scanner developed

The first infrared scanner applied to art was developed at CNR-INO. The results were published in Studies in Conservation

1st holografic measurement on an artwork

1982

1st Holografic measurement applied to art

The first application of holographic interferometry on a work of art under restoration was carried out on a bronze panel of St. John’s Baptistery in Florence.
D. Bertani, M. Cetica & G. Molesini (1982) Holographic tests on the Ghiberti panel ‘The Life of Joseph’, Studies in Conservation, 27:2, 61-64, DOI: 10.1179/sic.1982.27.2.61