Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry, a non-contact and nondestructive optical diagnostic technique, was employed for evaluating the conservation state of a XVI century painting on wood. The whole structure alterations,
induced by the laboratory temperature and relative humidity variations, were evaluated. Long-term analysis, by sequential recording and subsequent off-line processing of the fringes progression, was carried out. Local flaws and hidden detachments of pictorial layers from the support, which could not be recognized by traditional art-restorer survey methods, were also easily revealed. In such a case, a simple measurement approach was utilized, with the aim to get a user-friendly method for art conservators. The results demonstrate that the interferometry method can largely improve the traditional art conservation survey techniques
