Physics and Fine Art

The Scientific Examination of Paintings

This video takes us behind the scenes of The National Gallery in London to show how science is used in the investigation and conservation of works of art. New techniques are being developed all the time. For example, infra-red reflectography can penetrate to the lowest levels of a painting to show the `underdrawing' with which the artist began his work - and the style of the underdrawing can be a very valuable guide to the authenticity of a picture. X-rays can be used to examine the whole picture; and the video reveals how a portrait by Goya was painted over another on the same canvas. It is also possible to discover and analyze the actual materials the artist used; then if restoration is necessary, the restorers know exactly what to use. In a portrait by Rembrandt of his mistress, was the red he used a cheaper mixture of two pigments rather than the more expensive pure vermilion? Paintings are fragile things; they may start to deteriorate as soon as they leave the studio. A subject of Sir Joshua Reynolds, watching the color drain out of his painted face during his own lifetime, claimed that Reynolds had `made his paintings die before the man.' But scientific control of the gallery environment can slow down this deterioration. Without science, knowledge of how artists of the past worked, what paints they used, and how we should best preserve their paintings would be meager indeed.

© 1998-2008 The Roland Collection & Pira Intl.