The new AGLAÉ is inaugurated on 23 November 2017 by Françoise Nyssen, Minister of Culture and Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.
The accelerator Grand Louvre d'Analyse élémentaire, AGLAÉ, has been installed since 1988 at the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF, Palais du Louvre). It is the only particle accelerator in the world exclusively dedicated to the study of cultural heritage objects and accessible to external, French and European researchers.
By penetrating the material, it makes it possible to identify all the chemical elements present in the surface layers of the works studied, to determine their nature, concentration and location. The works thus studied reveal their history and authenticity.
The new AGLAÉ includes a more sensitive detection system and allows for the analysis of fragile materials which, under the action of the particle beam, could have undergone visible modifications. It reduces the irradiation of the works of art to be studied and offers the possibility to carry out chemical cartographies simultaneously with several analysis techniques.
The new AGLAÉ will now be able to operate continuously 24 hours a day, thanks to a stabilization and automation system by Thales.
Its implementation was the subject of funding from the Investissements d'avenir, the Ministry of Culture and the City of Paris, and a close scientific collaboration between C2RMF, CNRS and Chimie ParisTech.
To celebrate the restart of the new AGLAÉ, a symposium will be held on 30 November at the Louvre auditorium. It will be the occasion to present the new performances of the instrument and to look back on some of the key studies carried out with AGLAÉ, such as those of the Celtic tomb of Lavau, medieval stained glass windows or prehistoric objects in bones colored by ochres. Each concrete case will be presented by a duo composed of a specialist in analytical sciences and an archaeologist or art historian.