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Inspection with ultra violet light is the simplest and most regularly used method to detect later additions of paint. Infra red photography can be used to view the artist's preparatory drawing lines. This can help to determine a change of composition, to see pouncing lines, or even to attribute an artist to the painting. Dendrochronology (an advanced method of dating wood by measuring and comparing the spaces between the rings) can be used to date the wood of panel paintings and pinpoint the origins of the wood itself.
Radiography/X-Ray is primarily employed to reveal damages, losses and structural problems, all of which can be hidden beneath layers of original paint, overpaint and discoloured varnishes. Radiography can also reveal earlier layers of the painting such as changes in composition or they can even reveal an entirely different picture underneath. These images can be vitally important in understanding how the painting has evolved throughout history.
Minute cross sections of paint can tell a great deal about a painting's history. Pigment analysis can be used to provide a terminus post quem (starting point of a period) e.g., paintings which contain Prussian Blue can be dated from c.1724 when the manufacturing process for the pigment was first published in Philosophical Transactions. Thorough inspection of the complex layer system enables us to determine the history of the painting and whether interventions have occurred by inspecting layers of dirt, varnish and overpaint.
This trio of images include X-ray and infra-red examinations undertaken on a sixteenth century panel of a Portrait of Elizabeth I.
Examinations revealed an earlier portrait of Elizabeth I, which lay hidden underneath the present picture. Upon closer inspection it was apparent that the earlier portrait depicted Elizabeth I wearing a richer, more extravagant costume with details such as a larger ruff and more elaborate sleeves.
In addition the earlier portrait revealed Elizabeth I looking directly out at the viewer and there were differences in the placement of her hands. Interestingly, Elizabeth I appears to be holding an orb, which was replaced by the later addition of a prayer book.
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Inspection with ultra violet light is the simplest and most regularly used method to detect later additions of paint. Infra red photography can be used to view the artist's preparatory drawing lines. This can help to determine a change of composition, to see pouncing lines, or even to attribute an artist to the painting. Dendrochronology (an advanced method of dating wood by measuring and comparing the spaces between the rings) can be used to date the wood of panel paintings and pinpoint the origins of the wood itself.
Radiography/X-Ray is primarily employed to reveal damages, losses and structural problems, all of which can be hidden beneath layers of original paint, overpaint and discoloured varnishes. Radiography can also reveal earlier layers of the painting such as changes in composition or they can even reveal an entirely different picture underneath. These images can be vitally important in understanding how the painting has evolved throughout history.
Minute cross sections of paint can tell a great deal about a painting's history. Pigment analysis can be used to provide a terminus post quem (starting point of a period) e.g., paintings which contain Prussian Blue can be dated from c.1724 when the manufacturing process for the pigment was first published in Philosophical Transactions. Thorough inspection of the complex layer system enables us to determine the history of the painting and whether interventions have occurred by inspecting layers of dirt, varnish and overpaint.
Downloadable PDFs
This trio of images include X-ray and infra-red examinations undertaken on a sixteenth century panel of a Portrait of Elizabeth I.
Examinations revealed an earlier portrait of Elizabeth I, which lay hidden underneath the present picture. Upon closer inspection it was apparent that the earlier portrait depicted Elizabeth I wearing a richer, more extravagant costume with details such as a larger ruff and more elaborate sleeves.
In addition the earlier portrait revealed Elizabeth I looking directly out at the viewer and there were differences in the placement of her hands. Interestingly, Elizabeth I appears to be holding an orb, which was replaced by the later addition of a prayer book.
