Showcases - The technological forefront at the service of the museum exhibition

Egyptian Museum of Turin. Photo Archive Goppion.

During the visit of a museum, you could feel charmed by the artworks as well as by the archaeological objects. Nevertheless it is sometimes hard to understand their great value and then, reading the explanatory panels can help us. The showcase is usually ignored as it can disturb the view of the objects contained inside. It is easy to minimize the term "showcase": those, that sometimes appear to be anonymous glass sheets, can actually hide surprising technologies. 

It must be emphasized that an ideal museum must guarantee the conservation of the cultural heritage within it and communicate the information of this heritage through the exhibition. However, conservation and exposure are contrasting actions: an appropriate good conservation would require a limited exposure; indeed, a complete exposition could endanger the conservation of the objects. The innovative showcases allow curators to isolate objects from the outside environment and control them. 

How much technology can we find in a showcase? We can ask the Mona Lisa, whose showcase (of Goppion) is the most glimpsed. The protective glass of a normal showcase has a thickness of 12 mm, while that of Gioconda is 30 mm: this makes it virtually unassailable, vandal-proof. The artwork is totally insulated from the outside thanks to an innovative hinged closure. The environmental conditions, temperature and humidity, are monitored by sensors whose measured values are sent to a computer that keeps them constant, respectively, 20 °C and 52%. The automatic system is based on the reaction of two different metals of the same electrical impulse which can produce the required humidity level at any time while the silica gel absorbs the excess of moisture. The complex ventilation network ensures the circulation of purified air inside the showcase, while filters (from the aerospace industry) block dust and biological contaminants. Then, Leonardo's famous work is armored and well controlled: Is this security the reason of her smile? 

The Riace’s Bronzes are another example of good balance between conservation and exhibition. The two bronzes sculptures are installed on Carrara marble bases designed by ENEA, which ensure a total isolation from seismic stress. Accelerometers are inserted into the basement to control the presence of vibrations, while the probes inside the statues control the state of conservation, identifying every smallest problem. All monitoring data are transmitted to a computer that can be controlled remotely, allowing to take quickly action in the case of anomalies or some critical values. The system is able to warn the responsible professionals (with a text message, a call, emails) if the monitored parameters exceed from the alert level. 

Unfortunately, the innovative showcases and systems require considerable time for their development and this is the reason why they are applied only to well-known artworks. However, in the Age of the Internet of Things, more and more smart methods which can safeguard the museum objects are developed every day. Perhaps one day it will be possible to check the state of conservation through an app on the smartphone, even by the public. 

Emanuele

To deepen the topic I recommend: 

1) The Design of Educational Exhibits (R.S. Miles, Routledge) 

2) La Scienza delle Vetrine (CNR, free reading)