Bruker Corp., Billerica, Mass., and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), New York, announced a 10-year partnership to advance novel analytical technologies and methods in the field of cultural heritage science even further. This partnership builds upon and expands a long history of collaboration that has yielded considerable progress and results: among them, the introduction of the first Open Architecture Raman Microscope, the application of Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to the identification of organic colorants, the development of Laser Ablation SERS, and just recently, the use of Macro Area Scanning XRF for the study of paintings.
Their previous collaborations have yielded new instrumentation development and methods that are now commonly used around the world. With this new ambitious partnership, Bruker will focus on advanced mass spectrometry instrumentation, as well as x-ray diffraction, and Raman imaging, adding state-of-the-art technology to the impressive array of scientific tools already in place at The Met. The new technologies will enable The Met’s scientists to advance scholarship in cultural heritage science and solve the most challenging conservation problems.
As part of this collaboration, Bruker will also provide instrumentation and technical expertise for the Network Initiative for Conservation Science (NICS), the new program established by The Met to support research at other museums in New York City. As many of these museums lack the scientific resources to perform in-depth chemical and elemental analysis, Bruker portable infrared, Raman, and x-ray fluorescence instrumentation operated by Met scientists will play an essential role in establishing a mobile laboratory and in building a distributed scientific network benefiting all cultural heritage institutions in the city of New York.
The Department of Scientific Research at The Met is responsible for investigating the material aspects of works of art in the collection. Scientists in the department cooperate with conservators and curators in studying, preserving, and conserving the works, and also pursue innovative research in analytical techniques, preventive conservation, and treatment methodologies.
