Light & Engineering Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 18-23, 2015 Svetotekhnika No. 3, 2015, pp. 49-52 NEW METHODOLOGY OF LIGHT SOURCE SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION SELECTION AND DESIGN FOR USE IN MUSEUMS TO PROPERLY EXHIBIT AND PRESERVE ARTWORK. <...> National University of Tucumбn, San Miguel de Tucumбn 4000, Argentina Emails: fas_342@hotmail.com; pujol@oo.upc.edu ABSTRACT: A new methodology to select light source spectral distribution for use in museums is presented. <...> It is based upon obtaining the Representative Spectral Refl ectance Curve (RSRC) for each artwork and then lighting it with a light source the spectral power distribution of which is coincident in shape with the objects RSRC. <...> In order to evaluate quality of presentation, colour differences were calculated for the three primal colours present in an artwork sample, illuminated under Illuminants D65 and under a simulated illuminant the spectral power distribution of which matches the RSRC of the illuminated object. <...> Results are in general lower than 3 CIELAB units, considered the limit for strict tolerance in normal colour reproduction. <...> The current protocol for exhibition object preservation in museum lighting is based upon the combined use of dual criteria: object classifi cation according to their risk of deterioration due to radia18 tion and the standards for total accumulated exposition [1,2]. <...> The hypothesis tested as part of this ongoing project is explained by the following propositions: a) It is possible to obtain a refl ectance curve of an artwork or an exhibition object, which is suffi ciently representative of its surface area [4]; b) Lighting an artwork or an exhibition object, under a light source the spectral emission power of which matches the object’s representative refl ectance curve, allows for minimum damage to the object caused by light incidence, given that object deterioration due to radiation is the effect of energy absorbed [3]. <...> The visual stimulus resulting from the interaction between an artwork’s representative spectral refl ectance curve (RSRC) and a light source, the spectral emission power of which matches the RSRC, allows for adequate and acceptable performance in terms of exhibition standards. <...> When characterising artwork – more precisely painting reproductions in the process of deducting their refl ectance <...>