Investigating the photocatalytic degradation of oil paint using ATR-IR and AFM-IR

As linseed oil has a longstanding and continuing history of use as a binder in artistic paints, developing an understanding of its degradation mechanism is critical to conservation efforts. At present, little can be done to detect the early stages of oil paint deterioration due to the complex chemical composition of degrading paints. In this...

Segmentation of thin corrugated layers in high-resolution OCT images

In this paper we present a novel method for the segmentation of thin corrugated layers in high resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. First, we make an initial segmentation, for example with graph based segmentation that, for highly corrugated interfaces, leads to many segmentation errors. Second, we resegment the initial...

Piet Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie: non invasive analysis using macro X-ray fluorescence mapping (MA-XRF) and multivariate curve resolution-alternating least square (MCR-ALS)

Piet Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942–1943) was examined using Macro X-Ray Fluorescence mapping (MA-XRF) to help characterize the artist’s materials and understand his creative process as well as the current condition issues of the painting. The presence and distribution of key chemical elements was used to identify the main pigments in...

Jackson Pollock’s Number 1A, 1948: a non-invasive study using macro-x-ray fluorescence mapping (MA-XRF) and multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) analysis

Jackson Pollock’s Number 1A, 1948 painting was investigated using in situ scanning macro-x-ray fluorescence mapping (MA-XRF) to help characterize the artist’s materials and his creative process. A multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) approach was used to examine the hyperspectral data and obtain distribution maps and...

A quick assessment of the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 pigments: From lab to conservation studio!

Titanium dioxide is the most abundantly used white pigment of the 20th century. The pigment is still in use, both in the production of contemporary art and for the conservation of older artwork as a retouching pigment. Unfortunately, next to its positive characteristics, the pigment has one major potential drawback: its photocatalytic activity...

Rembrandt’s An Old Man in Military Costume: The underlying image re-examined

The painting An Old Man in Military Costume in the J. Paul Getty Museum, by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, was studied using two complementary, element-specific imaging techniques—neutron activation autoradiography (NAAR) and macro-X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) mapping—to reveal the second, hidden painting. NAAR provided a strong image of the face...

Simultaneous capture of the color and topography of paintings using fringe encoded stereo vision

Introduction: Paintings are versatile near-planar objects with material characteristics that vary widely. The fact that paint has a material presence is often overlooked, mostly due to the fact that we encounter many of these artworks through two dimensional reproductions. The capture of paintings in the third dimension is not only interesting...

Examination of historical paintings by state-of-the-art hyperspectral imaging methods: From scanning infra-red spectroscopy to computed X-ray laminography

The development of advanced methods for non-destructive selective imaging of painted works of art at the macroscopic level based on radiation in the X-ray and infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum are concisely reviewed. Such methods allow to either record depth-selective, element-selective or species-selective images of entire...

Topographical scanning and reproduction of near-planar surfaces of paintings

Paintings are near-planar objects with material characteristics that vary widely. The fact that paint has a material presence is often overlooked, mostly because we often encounter these artworks in the form of two-dimensional reproductions. Capturing paintings in the third dimension is not only important for study, restoration and conservation,...

Development of new imaging techniques for the study and interpretation of late Rembrandt paintings

Recent macro-XRF scanning of Rembrandt’s Selfportrait from 1669 in the Mauritshuis – as part of the ReVisRembrandt project – has revealed significant<br/>new information about the pigments and build-up of the painting. The elemental distribution maps make clear that the umber-rich ground plays a very important role in the final appearance of...

Looking through paintings

Revealing hidden paint layers in oil paintings by means of scanning macro-XRF: A mock-up study based on Rembrandt's “An old man in military costume”

Over the past several decades the oeuvre of Rembrandt has been the subject of extensive art historical and scientific investigations. One of the most striking features to emerge is his frequent re-use of canvases and panels. The painting An Old Man in Military Costume (78.PB.246), in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, is an example of...

The skin of Van Gogh's paintings

Subsurface Analysis of Oil Paintings by Means of Scanning Macro-XRF

TeraHertz imaging of hidden paint layers on canvas

We show terahertz reflection images of hidden paint layers in a painting on canvas and compare the results with X-ray Radiography and Infrared Reflectography. Our terahertz measurements show strong reflections from both the canvas/paint interface and from the raw umber/lead white interface, indicating sufficient refractive-index contrast. Our...

A note on medieval microfabrication: The visualization of a prayer nut by synchrotron-based computer X-ray tomography

One of the most fascinating objects in the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) is an early 16th century prayer nut. This spherical wooden object measures 4 cm in diameter and consists of two hemispheres connected with a small hinge so that it can be opened. The interior of the nut holds wood carvings with scenes from the life of Christ....

Relics in medieval altarpieces? Combining X-ray tomographic, laminographic and phase-contrast imaging to visualize thin organic objects in paintings

X-ray radiography is a common tool in the study of old master paintings. Transmission imaging can visualize hidden paint layers as well as the structure of the panel or canvas. In some medieval altarpieces, relics seem to have been imbedded in the wooden carrier of paintings. These are most probably thin organic fibrous materials such as paper...

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