Describes in detail Raman microspectrometry, a nondestructive analytical technique which allows the study of the light diffused by the samples being analyzed. Examples presented include the Raman spectrum of cinnabar and azurite, the identification of pigments used in mural paintings and in illuminated manuscripts in the Middle Ages, and the identification of corrosion products on a copper bracelet from a royal tomb in Susa, Iran (3rd millennium BC).