Project description
An innovative approach to investigating canvas paintings for cultural heritage preservation
Canvas paintings are treasures of cultural heritage, yet complex and poorly understood degradation processes threaten their long-term survival. The ERC-funded VANGOGH project introduces a novel approach to predicting the lifespan of canvas paintings combining advanced computational models with innovative, minimally invasive experiments. The aim is to unravel the underlying multiscale and multiphysics processes that affect a painting’s appearance and structural integrity. By studying how paint and canvas materials respond to environmental changes and stress at multiple scales, the project aims to uncover the origin of damage mechanisms such as fracture and instability. The resulting insights will enable more accurate predictions of long-term degradation of canvas paintings, supporting science-informed conservation decisions.
Objective
Predicting the degradation of canvas paintings is not only one of the grand challenges in the field of art conservation but also a major scientific problem. Canvas paintings experience complex instability, fracture, and degradation mechanisms across several length scales triggered by the interaction between multiple physical fields. These degradation processes impact the appearance, integrity, and longevity of the painted surfaces and are thus a paramount concern for heritage conservators.
This proposal targets a novel integrated computational-experimental framework that aims to realize a breakthrough in predicting the lifespan of canvas paintings by unravelling the underlying multiscale and multiphysics processes that affect their appearance and integrity.
VANGOGH departs from developing advanced numerical multiscale and multiphysics models formulated within the framework of computational mechanics. These models will describe the complex constitutive response of paint and canvas materials and their effect on the degradation of canvas paintings under the coupled influence of moisture diffusion, thermal conduction, mechanical deformation, and fracture and instability mechanisms. The modelling framework will be fully integrated with a novel non-invasive multiscale experimental strategy combining quantitative mechanical testing and in-situ microscopic observations on original paint and canvas samples.
The synergetic computational-experimental approach will advance the mechanistic understanding of the fundamental origin of the most critical failure scenarios in canvas paintings as a function of environmental variations and structural conservation treatments. This will allow for the first time to quantitatively predict the degradation and thus the lifetime of canvas paintings. The proposed integration of computational and experimental multiscale mechanics with art conservation will provide a paradigm shift in the scientific approach to cultural heritage preservation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities arts visual arts
- natural sciences computer and information sciences computational science multiphysics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.