From masterpieces to makeup: eco-friendly art conservation protection, enough for human skin

The green art conservation approach developed by EU-funded researchers is developing new standards and prove useful far beyond museums from cosmetics to agriculture.

go through Michaela Nesvarova

Professor Piero Baglioni vividly recalls the moment he embarked on a lifelong journey of art saving. It was 1966, and the young Italian chemistry student witnessed an event that would change his career.

On November 4, his hometown of Florence suffered a devastating flood, which was probably the worst in Renaissance urban history. The disaster has taken dozens of lives and damaged millions of priceless works of art and rare books. Some masterpieces are lost forever, others desperately need to recover.

“The flood affected much of the city,” Bagrioni said. “The mural paintings in our church were damaged, and the books and other artworks stored in the basement were destroyed.”

Save cultural identity

Afterwards, experts from all over the world scrambled to find new ways to preserve these damaged masterpieces. One of the main figures in this work is Enzo Ferroni, a professor at Baglioni, who invited him to observe the city’s recovery workshops.

“I started to look at art from different perspectives,” Bagrioni said.

This experience marks the beginning of an outstanding career. Today, Baglioni is a professor at the University of Florence and an internationally recognized expert in the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage.

He led several major international art conservation programs, including a three-year research collaboration called GreenArt, which will end in September 2025.

Building on years of research on cultural heritage conservation, the Greenart research team is developing a range of new environmentally friendly solutions to protect and restore cultural artifacts, including valuable paintings, sculptures and textiles.

The researchers aim to go beyond traditional conservation techniques, many of which rely on energy-intensive processes or environmentally harmful materials. Instead, the Greenart team focused on sustainable and non-toxic alternatives to protect cultural heritage and the planet.

Coordinated by the Center for Colloid and Surface Sciences (CSGI) in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florence, Greenart brings together leading research institutions, chemical companies and cultural heritage organizations from Europe and beyond. They also include partners in Brazil, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Although CSGI’s work covers a wide range of advanced technologies, Greenart is firmly rooted in the art world.

“Why focus on art?” Bagrioni asked. “Because it’s part of our legacy. Art is like the fingerprints in our minds. Visual art reminds us of who we are. Without it, we lose part of our identity.”

Baglioni also stressed the economic importance of the arts sector, which provides millions of dollars in jobs across Europe and generates billions of euros in annual revenue.

“Protecting arts is not just about maintaining cultural values, it also involves maintaining the surrounding economic ecosystem,” he said.

Green, green, greenest

According to Baglioni, the innovative approach developed by the Greenart team has been recognized by a new benchmark for art conservation.

Now, paintings that used to be cleaned with toxic solvents can now be recovered using complex liquids and biologically based gels. This makes the process more efficient and environmentally friendly.

These cutting-edge technologies have been adopted by some of the world’s most famous museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection of Venice and Tate in London.

The museum is an active partner in the development process, strictly testing each new solution until the highest standards are met. Baglione said high accuracy is crucial, especially when restoring masterpieces like Picasso, Cézanne, Pollock, Rothko and Lichtenstein.

The Greenart team is not on its own crown and continues to push the boundaries of sustainable protection.

“We have created new systems that are completely sustainable, renewable and non-toxic,” Bagrioni said. “We only use environmentally friendly materials that are renewable natural sources or recycled waste. This is the possible approach.”

The study has produced a new set of tools: cleaning gels and liquids, protective coatings, environmental sensors to monitor the conditions of artworks and sustainable packaging to protect objects in transits.

“When you think of art savings, you might think of clean painting, but Greenart is much more than that,” Bagrioni said.

From canvas to skin

Although GreenArt researchers’ core mission is to preserve cultural heritage, their scientific innovations have applications that go far beyond the art world.

“With our artwork, we gain a lot of knowledge in materials science,” Balioni said. “This expertise can benefit many other areas.”

One area the team has been exploring is cosmetics, working with Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido.

“Greenart technology is very useful for our industry,” said Dr. Taku Ogura, a senior researcher at Shiseido and a visiting associate professor at Tokyo University of Science in Japan.

“Using microemulsion technology – it is used to clean delicate artwork, but it can also be used to cleanse human skin.”

As Ogura explains, these new technologies can help make cosmetic preparations cleaner and greener. Shiseido has incorporated the technology into some existing products, such as sustainable cleaning foam for makeup removal.

“This product is not only effective and easy to use, but it is also more sustainable, which is very important to us,” Ogura said.

And the potential is more than that. Ogura believes Greenart’s technology may soon have an impact in other areas, including detergents, agriculture and even medicine.

World Expo

To emphasize this cross-sectoral potential – from preserving ancient canvases to promoting skin care products – the European Pavilion features the Greenart project during the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan.

“It is very important for us to attend the World’s Fair,” Balioni said. “We want to show that the technology developed for the art can have a wider range of applications.”

Visitors to the exhibition are introduced to Greenart’s innovative solutions to preserve cultural heritage and to the amazing connection to the cosmetic world.

Many people even have the opportunity to try environmentally friendly products, some of which are expected to enter the market soon after the project ends in 2025.

Baglioni said the World Expo is also a great opportunity to expand cooperation with Japanese partners.

“To do something new, we need the right people with the right knowledge. We need the best in the world. To promote boundaries, we need international cooperation.”

The research in this article is funded by the EU’s Horizon Program. The views of respondents do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

This article was originally published in the European Journal of Research and Innovation.

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