Comparative assessment of stained‐glass windows materials by infrared thermography

Abstract This paper reports the analyses of infrared thermography images of two stained‐glass windows with the objective of the in situ characterization of this type of artworks. The analyses were carried out by active thermography. The observations revealed that glasses absorbed the long‐wave IR radiation emitted by the halogen lamps and their apparent surface temperature progressively increased. After switching the spotlight off, they experienced a progressive decrease in temperature. Silver stained glasses presented the same thermographic behavior than uncolored glasses because silver nanoparticles were too small or the yellow layer was too thin to produce a different response than the base glass with the IR radiation. The apparent surface temperature of enamels and grisailles depended on their thickness and color. Lead cames maintained an almost constant surface apparent temperature, except those painted that behave in a similar way than enamels. Metallic tin‐lead welds experienced the most important variation in the surface apparent temperature in reflection mode due to the energy reflected by the surface of the weld. Glass defects such as big bubbles were also observed.