Analytical support for the study and restoration project concerning a work by Fernand Léger

When the project for the future restoration of the painting The Staircase (Second State) was proposed, an examination of the work revealed a series of alterations that gave rise to very vague interpretations about the number of interventions the painting had undergone. It also suggested the possibility that some of these interventions could have been carried out by the artist himself.

The analysis of micro-samples of materials present in the work and the use of various instrumental techniques to analyse the organic and inorganic compounds have provided answers to the questions raised by the restoration team with a view to preparing the intervention project.