Abstract
Ancient wood panel paintings represent an important part of the European cultural heritage. Since long time it is known that the storing condition can degrade and damage them. Understanding of the actual state of old panel paintings and the prediction of their behaviour under various climatic conditions is essential to better conserve and restore them. Such analysis could be done by numerical modelling. However, numerical modelling can achieved good predictions only if the materials parameters are adequately determined. In this work, the mechanical, physical and chemical modifications occurring during natural aging have been investigated for wood and paint layers. The possibility to accelerate the aging with thermo-hydro treatments has been successfully applied to wood. A wood aging law has been found for the radial strength and the lightness. Unfortunately, no such law has been found for the paint layers. The hygroscopic and mechanical behaviour of panel paintings has been then simulated in 3D by a finite element model taking into account the time dependent behaviour. The comparison between the model and experiments shows good agreement. Finally, risk analysis on an old painting shows that normal climate fluctuation should not promote cracks in the wooden support but the cracking of the ground layer is possible.