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In consequence of the flooding of the Loing river in 2016, some of the storage areas for the Musée Girodet were submerged, with 3000 artworks affected. Following this, the painting Le Jeune Trioson (nineteenth century, attributed to the school of Anne-Louis Girodet De Roucy Trioson) developed severe blanching in the varnish, over the dark background in particular. An initial non-contact investigation with a spectral-domain optical coherence tomographic system operating in the near-infrared range (830–1020 nm) gave valuable insights into the development of this alteration. This detected a change in the scattering properties of the blanched varnish compared to the non-blanched one. The depth at which the modification occurred has been clearly identified, together with different stages of alteration corresponding to the severity of the visible blanching. This information obtained non-invasively is useful for guiding a later targeted sampling campaign and for informing treatment planning for varnish removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chapel n. 11(1591) represents 'the Massacre of the innocents' and is one of the most dramatic of the 45 chapels at the UNESCO World Heritage site of the "Sacro Monte di Varallo" (Vercelli, Italy). The University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) in collaboration with "Ente Sacri Monti" is carrying out several investigations to acquire the necessary knowledge about original, added and degradation materials present on the wall paintings of chapel 11, to develop a conservation strategy and a restoration plan. Starting from on site visual examination, the analytical investigation campaign included non-invasive investigations (portable microscope, technical photography and portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy) and laboratory analyses on samples (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, observations by polarized optical microscope and Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). Selected datasets resulted from the investigation on plaster, blue polychrome and on repainting are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]