The relief “Adoration of the Shepherds” by the Italian sculptor Giuseppe Torretti is disfigured by lumpy salt crystals. Now, a research group has established that the calcium acetate hemihydrate that makes up these efflorescences bears a similar structure to the protein collagen. The structural characteristics not only help prevent damage of this kind, but have also provided the researchers with interesting new ideas for bioinorganic chemistry.
Click here for original story, A salt formed due to corrosion on restored artwork features structure known from biology
Source: ScienceDaily