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The instrument can now fling protons, helium ions, and, soon, deuterons at priceless pieces of art to probe their elemental composition with all the precision and repeatability of modern vacuum science. The lab is called the Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France, or C2RMF; it draws scientists looking to study art, just as the Mona Lisa , displayed m to the east, draws more generalist art lovers. French law gives the government the right of first refusal on art that goes up for sale in the country.
As part of that process, curators and historians at the Louvre must determine if the work is authentic. Analytical results from C2RMF scientists inform those decisions, says Gilles Wallez, a crystallographer at the center and a research professor at Sorbonne University. The work is a collaboration, but the curators always get the final call, Wallez says.
The case of a ceramic Chinese horse provides a good illustration of the dynamic. But previous work at the C2RMF and peer laboratories has shown that X-rays can also muddy chemical details that other techniques rely on to determine the age of ceramics. The electrons get jammed into these weird, quantum-mechanical pockets as they absorb ambient background radiation over timeβmore trapped electrons means more time has passed since the piece was made.
