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X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) is a sophisticated non-destructive imaging technique to investigate structures and materials of complex objects, and its application can answer many conservation and restoration questions. However, for Cultural Heritage investigations, medical CT scanners are not optimized for many case-studies: These instruments are designed for the human body, are not flexible and are difficult to use in situ. To overcome these limitations and to safely investigate works of art on site&mdash, in a restoration laboratory or in a museum&mdash, the X-ray Tomography Laboratory of the University of Bologna designed several CT systems. Here we present two of these facilities and the results of important measurement campaigns performed in situ. The first instrument, light and flexible, is designed to investigate medium-size objects with a resolution of a few tens of microns and was used for the CT analysis of several Japanese theater masks belonging to the collection of the &ldquo, L. Pigorini&rdquo, Museum (Rome). The second is designed to analyze larger objects, up to 200 cm and was used to investigate the collection of the so-called &ldquo, Statue Vestite&rdquo, (devotional dressed statues) of the Diocesan Museum of Massa.

The diagnostic investigations are an important resource in the studies on Cultural Heritage to enhance the knowledge on execution techniques, materials and conservation status of a work of art. In this field, due to the great historical and artistic value of the objects, preservation is the main concern; for this reason, new technological equipment has been designed and developed in the Physics Departments of the Universities of Ferrara and Bologna to enhance the non-invasive approach to the study of pictorial artworks and other objects of cultural interest. Infrared (IR) reflectography, X-ray radiography and computed tomography (CT), applied to works of art, are joined by the same goal: to get hidden information on execution techniques and inner structure pursuing the non-invasiveness of the methods, although using different setup and physical principles. In this work transportable imaging systems to investigate large objects in museums and galleries are presented. In particular, 2D scanning devices for IR reflectography and X-ray radiography, CT systems and some applications to the Cultural Heritage are described.

Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra and Museo di Storia Naturale (Sezione di Geologia e Paleontologia), Universita di Firenze, via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “L. Pigorini”, Sezione di Antropologia, p.le G. Marconi 14, 00144 Roma, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Settore di Fisica Biomedica, Universita di Bologna, viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy Institut de Paleontologia M. Crusafont, c/Escola Industrial 23, 08201 Sabadell, Spain Laboratoire de Geobiologie, Biochronologie et Paleontologie humaine, CNRS UMR 6046, Universite de Poitiers, 40 av. du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France