The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that it has been awarded a two-year Research and Development Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support the biochemical analysis of chia oil found in Mexican lacquerware and paintings by New Spanish artists from the 16th to the 19th century. The study aims to create, establish, and disseminate a scientific methodology for biomolecule identification in art—using chia oil as a model—that can also be used to investigate other naturally occurring biological materials in a wide variety of heritage objects.

Read the full press release here.