Conservation of Stained Glass Windows: An Innovative User-Friendly Portable Device Coming from the EU-VIDRIO Project

Abstract

An innovative, cost-effective, user-friendly and portable device (dew sensor) to directly detect condensation on glass surfaces was developed within the EC-VIDRIO project (contract No. EVK4-CT-2001-00045), aimed at finding sustainable solutions to preserve ancient stained glass windows. The results of the research showed that the direct survey of condensation with the new sensor is more accurate and reliable than the traditional indirect microclimatic measurements. Since the construction of the first prototype, the dew sensor was developed further, continuously improved, validated in the laboratory and applied successfully on different surfaces at sites of interest in the field of Cultural Heritage; on the stained glass windows in the Saint Urbain Basilica of Troyes (France), Sainte Chapelle of Paris (France) and Cologne Cathedral (Germany); on stone walls in Petrarca's Tomb (Padua, Italy) and the Hagar Qim Temple (Malta). Now the sensor is being used in the Lascaux Caves (France). The newly built device was patented (PTC/EP2005/050665) and gave such interesting results that the Italian Ministry of University and Research financially supported a spin-off project that has lead to the creation of a new company (R.E.D. s.r.l.) in order to develop the prototype further and to produce the sensor at industrial scale.