At Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art crate up “Narcissus”, a masterpiece by Caravaggio, in preparation for a long journey. Like many fine art works, this late 16th century painting is being loaned to a temporary exhibition in another museum.<br /><br /> A moment’s inattention during the arduous journey could damage this invaluable work. So the art gallery teamed up with with engineers from a European research project to test a smart technology system to keep an eye on such priceless objects.<br /><br /> “This gallery has a very rich collection beginning from the 12th century and many of our works are very valuable – not just economically, as you can imagine, but also culturally,” said Cinzia Ammannato, the gallery’s director. <br /><br /> While visible damage almost never happens in transit, restorers are still concerned with microscopic-level problems that may arise especially if the art piece gets exposed to extreme ambient conditions.<br /><br /> Ugo Maria Colesanti, a research engineer in computer systems and and h
