Problem

What problem does AerariumChain want to solve?

The mission of those who conserve art

To understand why Aerariumchain exists, you must first understand the context in which it operates.

The mission of the museums, institutions, foundations, and collectors is to conserve, protect, document, exhibit, increase and enhance all of its collections, to broaden the knowledge of the artistic heritage to an ever-widening public, which is essential for its preservation and safeguarding. Finally, it transmits awareness of the importance of the heritage itself to present and future generations.

The definition of a Museum given by ICOM (International Council of Museums) is: "A Museum is a permanent, non-profit institution at the service of society and its development."

To carry out these activities, that is to take care of one's heritage and make it available for present and future generations, there is a need for significant resources and substantial expenditure. However, very few institutions worldwide are able to independently generate enough funds to support them: in all other cases, working correctly becomes a problem. The larger and more valuable the assets, the higher the cost of maintaining them.

Furthermore, there is also the cost of energy that the museum has to face, this can clearly vary and be more or less relevant depending on the cost of energy and the historical situation.

Degradation factors

There are several factors of degradation, the most important are:

• Pollution (pollutants from heating systems). The interaction between these agents results not only in the blackening of the surfaces but also in a chemical reaction that leads to their progressive erosion. Marble is particularly sensitive to the acid action of atmospheric pollutants.

• People or events - It may happen that during the movement of the works of art the latter are damaged or are inadvertently damaged by the influx of visitors.

• Climatic factors (frost, rain, sun) - Frequent temperature changes due to the alternation of the seasons generate phenomena that, in the long run, cause an increase in porosity and the destruction of the material.

• Animals - Rodents and insects pose danger to textiles, paper materials, and wooden artifacts.

• Humidity - The presence of water corrodes metals, curls paper, expands wood. It promotes the growth of microorganisms, bacteria, molds and weeds, and transports and deposits salts that have a corrosive action.

• Light, heat - Exposure to light discolor the fabrics.

• Other factors, clearly less common, are: natural disasters, vandalism, wars, theft, and candle digging.

Effects

The danger clearly is not preserving the works properly and ruining the cultural heritage. Furthermore, today it is difficult to keep track of the "life" and the microchanges of the work. This clearly not only makes the path of discovering the causes of such damage complicated, but often makes work to predict and prevent such deterioration impossible.