Morais, Rita MaltieiraCalvo, AnaCunha, Joana2021-07-182021-07-1820132067-533Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/34162In Portuguese painting, canvas is a common structural support. However, the historical documentation, material and technique on this fabric support are scarce. From the research that is being performed on the canvas in Portuguese painting, since its implementation to its industrial production, this article focuses on the challenges existing in the fibre preparation for microscopic examination. Since paintings are layered structures, fibres are usually impregnated with dust and various materials who migrated from other layers. To clean the micro-samples, three approaches of preparation were performed. The effectiveness of the cleaning of the fibres, for microscopic observation of their morphological characteristics, it is more difficult to achieve than the texts suggest.engAqueous sodium hydroxide dissolutionCanvasFibresMicroscopic examinationNeutral detergentPropanoneSamplingjournal article84894304854