Noscere Audere Velle Tascere Ire: rifts on Arts, music, photography, history, literature, poetry, science, the paintings, visual arts, the dance and ultimately to the living spaces of nature by Nosauvelta. This is a look for the space between thinking, knowing, seeing, understanding and listening well, reading stories and thoughts of what was, what is, and what has to be as told by the wise through blogs, photos, video, and music blogs.
If There Is Much In The Window There Should Be More In The Room
http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/?sid=h.s.3d_fossil.20070521&src=l In 1993, spelunkers came across an extraordinary find in the farthest chamber of a winding underground cave near the town of Altamura in southern Italy. It is a hominid skeleton—possibly in the Neanderthal line—which appears extraordinarily well-preserved and nearly complete. Scientists from the University of Bari have been investigating the remains ever since. For preservation’s sake, the scientists and the Italian government have decided to leave the skeleton in the cave, making analyzing it a technological challenge. This Bulletin highlights the 3D and remote sensing tools that scientists are now using to study and classify this unique fossil.
The analysis of the
painting 'Patch of Grass' by Vincent Van Gogh by means of an advanced form of
non-destructive X-ray analysis allowed to reveal in unprecedented detail the
original portrait, also by Van Gogh, over which the landscape was painted. This
development will greatly facilitate the study of other 'over painted' works of
art in the future.
A new technique allows pictures which were later painted over to be
revealed once more. An international research team, including members from
Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) and the University of Antwerp
(Belgium), has successfully applied this technique for the first time to the
painting entitled Patch of Grass by Vincent van Gogh. Behind this painting is a
portrait of a woman.
It is well-known that
Vincent van Gogh often painted over his older works. Experts estimate that
about one third of his early paintings conceal other compositions under them. A
new technique, based on synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence
spectroscopy, reveals this type of hidden painting. The techniques usually used
to reveal concealed layers of paintings, such as conventional X-ray
radiography, have their limitations.
Together with experts from the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Hamburg and
the Kröller-Müller Museum, TU Delft materials expert and art historian Dr Joris
Dik, and University of Antwerp chemistry professor Koen Janssens therefore
chose to adopt a different approach. The painting is subjected to an X-ray
bundle from a synchrotron radiation source, and the fluorescence of the layers
of paint is measured.
This technique has the major advantage that the measured fluorescence is
specific to each chemical element. Each type of atom (e.g. lead or mercury) and
also individual paint pigments can therefore be charted individually. The
benefit of using synchrotron radiation is that the upper layers of paint
distort the measurements to a lesser degree. Moreover, the speed of measurement
is high, which allows relatively large areas to be visualized.
Patch of
grass
This method was applied
to a painting by Vincent van Gogh. The work in question, Patch of Grass, was
painted by Van Gogh in Paris in 1887 and is owned by the Kröller-Müller Museum.
Previous research had already discovered the vague outline of a head behind the
painting. It was scanned at the synchrotron radiation source DORIS at Deutsches
Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg using an intense but very small X-ray
bundle. Over the course of two days, the area covering the image of a woman's
head was scanned, measuring 17.5 x 17.5 cm.
The measurements enabled researchers to reconstruct
the concealed painting in unparalleled detail. In particular the combination of
the distribution of the elements mercury and antimony (from specific paint
pigments) provided a 'colour photo' of the portrait which had been painted
over.
The reconstruction enables art historians to
understand the evolution of Van Gogh's work better. The applied technique is
expected to pave the way for research into many other concealed paintings.
Source:
Delft University of Technology
Painted-over
Portrait Probed
DELFT, The Netherlands,
and ANTWERP, Belgium, July 31, 2008 -- An international research team has used
synchrotron x-rays from a particle accelerator to reveal the portrait of a
woman hidden beneath Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Patch of Grass" for
121 years.
It's well known that Van Gogh often recycled his canvases, painting over older
works. Experts estimate that about one-third of his early paintings conceal
other compositions. In the case of "Patch of Grass," conventional
x-ray radiography previously revealed a vague outline of a head, while the new
technique based on synchrotron radiation-induced x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
revealed much greater detail.
Synchrotron
radiation-induced x-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF) spectroscopy has revealed a
detailed portrait of a women hidden beneath Vincent Van Gogh's "Patch of
Grass" painting. Previous attempts with conventional x-ray radiography revealed
only the vague outline of a head. (Image: University of Antwerp)
The new technique was
implemented by Delft University of Technology materials expert and art
historian Dr. Joris Dik and University of Antwerp chemistry professor Koen
Janssens, working with experts from the Deutches Elecktronen Synchrotron (DESY)
in Hamburg, Germany, and the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands,
which owns the painting.
Figure 1. (a) Vincent van Gogh, Patch of Grass, Paris, Apr−June 1887,
oil on canvas, 30 cm × 40 cm, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands
(KM 105.264; F583/JH1263). The red frame indicates the field of view in images
b and c (rotated 90° counter-clockwise). (b) X-ray radiation transmission
radiograph (XRR), paint sample location indicated in the blue frame (Figure 4). (c) Infrared
reflectograph (IRR).
Over the course of two days, the painting was subjected to an intense but very
small x-ray bundle of synchrotron radiation from DORIS III, a storage ring for
charged particles, and the fluorescence of the layers of paint measured. A
major advantage of the new technique over previous methods is that the measured
fluorescence is specific to each chemical element, so each type of atom, such
as lead or mercury, and individual paint pigments can be charted
separately.
The benefit of using
synchrotron radiation is that the upper layers of paint distort the
measurements to a lesser degree. Moreover, the speed of measurement is high,
which allows relatively large areas to be visualized, the researchers said.
Figure 7. (a) Tritonal color reconstruction of Sb
(yellowish white) and Hg (red) representing the flesh color of the hidden face.
(b) Detail from Vincent van Gogh, Head
of a Woman, Nuenen, winter 1884−85, oil on canvas, 42 cm × 33 cm,
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo (KM 105.591; F154/JH608). (c) Detail from
Vincent van Gogh, Head of a Woman,
Nuenen, winter 1884−85, oil on canvas, 42 cm × 34 cm, Van Gogh Museum,
Amsterdam (F156/JH569).
The measurements enabled researchers to reconstruct the concealed painting in
unparalleled detail, enabling art historians to better understand the evolution
of Van Gogh's work. The combination of the distribution of the elements mercury
and antimony (from specific paint pigments) provided a "color photo"
of the portrait which had been painted over. Additional investigations
performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France,
revealed the presence of the pigments Naples' yellow (lead antimonate,
yellow-brown) and vermillion (mercury sulphide, red), used by Van Gogh to paint
the portrait.
The new technique is expected to pave the way for research into many other
concealed paintings, including more by Van Gogh.
A
film explaining the research
A
film of the work in progress
A documentary about the
dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. Keywords: Netherlands; documentary; paintings;
Arles. Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 -- 29 July 1890) was a Dutch
Post-Impressionist artist. His paintings and drawings include some of the
world's best known, most popular and most expensive pieces. Van Gogh spent his
early adult life working for a firm of art dealers.
After a brief spell as
a teacher, he became a missionary worker in a very poor mining region. He did
not embark upon a career as an artist until 1880. Initially, van Gogh worked
only with somber colors, until he encountered Impressionism and
Neo-Impressionism in Paris.
He incorporated their
brighter colors and style of painting into a uniquely recognizable style, which
was fully developed during the time he spent at Arles, France. He produced more
than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and
sketches, during the last ten years of his life. Most of his best-known works
were produced in the final two years of his life, during which time he cut off
part of his left ear following a breakdown in his friendship with Paul Gauguin.
After this he suffered
recurrent bouts of mental illness, which led to his suicide. The central figure
in Van Gogh's life was his brother Theo, who continually and selflessly
provided financial support. Their lifelong friendship is documented in numerous
letters they exchanged from August 1872 onwards.
Van Gogh is a pioneer
of what came to be known as Expressionism. He had an enormous influence on 20th
century art, especially on the Fauves and German Expressionists. Creative
Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Netherlands.
One short
film from the DVD Akira Kurosawa's Dreams.
A Segment
of Akira Kurosawa's movies titled Dreams... in this scene the main character
supposed to represent Akira Kurosawa himself enters the world of Vincent Van
Gogh... literally, and gets the opportunity of a lifetime... to speak to the
legendary artist himself...
