Studies regarding the deterioration and degradation of old panel paintings under the influence of environmental factors.

This paper presents different progressive effects of deterioration and degradation of panel paintings, a result of environmental factors’ action during exhibition or storage. It has been analyzed both the support and the components of the painting layer. There have been studied panel paintings from XIX - XX th century, whose panels are made of few planks, joined with dowels and crossbeams. The dimensional changing through swelling and shrinking or the modification of panels flatness, determined by the variation of environmental factors, led to tensions which created cracks, fractures of the wood, affecting also the painting layer. The microclimate fluctuations affected physical (deteriorated) and chemical (degraded) the painting layer. The results are cracks, cleavages, embrittlements, discolorations. The paintings exposed to harsh climate conditions reached a precollapse and even collapse state. The observations took into account the interactions between the different structural elements of paintings under the influence of environmental factors, and also the way of display, storage and manipulation.