Old paintings are more sensitive to humidity than heat
Museum curators treat paintings like living organisms that breathe. When the air gets too damp or dry, the different layers of a masterpiece begin a slow-motion tug-of-war.
An Old Master painting is a complex sandwich of materials, including wood or canvas, glue, oil paint, and varnish. Each of these layers reacts to moisture at a different speed, causing them to expand and contract unevenly as humidity shifts. While a painting can easily withstand a five-degree change in temperature, a sharp swing in humidity acts like bending a paper clip back and forth. This mechanical stress eventually causes the paint to crack and flake away from its support.
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