Hygromechanical response of a panel painting in a church: in-situ monitoring and computer modeling
Résumé
Painted wooden panel are commonly displayed in traditional churches, where they play to some degree a religious function in addition to their cultural value. They are subject to uncontrolled microclimatic variations that sometimes include weekly heating periods. Due to these variations, wood panels exhibit typical cupping deformations likely to cause damage on the painted layer or the support itself. Unfortunately these deformations are hardly predictable due to the strong variability of the material and the complexity of wood hygro-mechanical response.