Practice reading images as a diagnostician of cultural heritage would do!
HOW?
Activate the App. Point the camera of your phone at the Master of Campo di Giove’s tablets marked in the room with the letters A, B, D, F, L, M, N, O. You will be able to access the images of the multispectral investigation (X-rays, IR, UV) that the Museum has carried out on its works, discovering the hidden secrets and the conservation history of the tablets.
Radiography x-rays (X-rays):
It allows a reading of the work in its entirety, providing important information on both the wooden support and the pictorial layers.
You can notice the presence of:
- silver, on the lances, helmets and banner;
- marks around the gilded halos, which show the artist’s rethinking of their dimensions;
- metal hooks for anchoring the panel on the wall or pegs for fixing the portions of the gilded frame;
- cracks of the wood;
- small circular cavities caused by woodworms;
- parquetry made during a previous restoration.
Infrared Reflectography (IR):
It makes possible to obtain information on the technique used to create the artwork and to detect inscriptions and dates, underlying the pictorial layer or covered by later reworking. Due to the different transparency of painting materials to infrared radiation, it is possible to visualise pictorial elements beneath the visible layer.
You can notice the presence of:
- numerous grountings and inscriptions, made both freehand and with compass;
- the halo decorations;
- the unevenness of the brushstrokes, denoting the succession of several repaintings in the underlying layers.
Ultraviolet fluorescence (UV):
It allows one to obtain information about the nature and aging of the most superficial materials and the location of pictorial retouching on the work. Different materials, apparently equal in colour and transparency in visible light, have a different chemical composition and therefore respond differently when subjected to other radiation sources, such as UV.
You can notice the presence of:
- dark stains identifying punctual retouches due to a previous restoration work;
- portions of the luminous surface (UV fluorescence) detecting the olded varnish.