WUR startup NanoMoi takes measurements for restoration of The Night Watch

The museum’s visiting public has been able to see how the NanoMoi measuring instrument has contributed to the restoration of the iconic masterpiece The Night Watch. Refurbishing the painting involves the use of solvents to remove the old layers of varnish. In an effort to prevent these solvents from causing any damage, laser light measurements and smart algorithms have now been added to the restoration process.

“Up until now, it was not clear how long solvents remain in paint,” says Jesse Buijs, who is the founder of the NanoMoi company. “Despite the fact that this can’t be seen with the naked eye, it can amount to several hours. In the long term, excessive use of solvents leads to cracks and rapid chemical degradation. That is why it is important to minimise the amount of solvent that is absorbed into the paint.”

The restorers therefore take extreme care when they are cleaning the painting. They start by testing the cleaning agents on small areas of the painting. Buijs then begins working with the device, which is as large as a shoebox and can be connected to a laptop. “We shine a laser light on the painting and use a camera to capture the light that comes back,” Buijs explains. “The way in which this light is returned tells us something about the mobility of the pigment particles. The more mobile the particles are, the softer the paint is at this stage. A sophisticated algorithm is able to read this from the responding laser beams. This algorithm forms the basis of our method.”

Collaboration with the Rijksmuseum

The measurements were taken in the second part of August and will help to determine the best restoration strategy. Buijs has been working with the Rijksmuseum for ‘about seven years’. He began by testing his device on artificially aged canvases, and then used it on a number of small but real paintings before he eventually moved onto the current task of The Night Watch. Buijs: “More paintings and other applications, such as measurements for 3D printing and the stability of food products, may subsequently follow.”

NanoMoi was founded by Jesse Buijs in 2023, following nine years of research at WUR into the development and application of Laser Speckle Imaging, which is a technique that works on the basis of light scattering. He obtained his PhD in 2022 from WUR’s Physical Chemistry & Soft Matter Chair Group.