The brilliant light produced by synchrotron light sources has opened up new possibilities for the detailed scientific analysis of cultural artefacts. However, until now, this had only been available at a limited number of large, specialised facilities, and at a high cost. The Smart*Light collaboration is developing a revolutionary table-top alternative that will use CERN know-how in high-gradient X-band linacs, and potentially CERN Medipix detector technology. A consortium of partners in the Netherlands and Belgium received European Regional Development Fund funding from Interreg to take the concept further and build a prototype system that will perform extremely sensitive, on-site, non-destructive imaging and analysis of important artworks.