How Science found Mona Lisa’s Pearl Necklace:
The evolution of scientific involvement in art history from the
nineteenth century to the twenty-first century
Julia Ilana Eckstein
Honors Thesis for Science, Technology and Society
University of Pennsylvania
December 2012
Jonathan D. Moreno, Ph.D.
1
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Jonathan D. Moreno, University of Pennsylvania David and Lyn Silfen
Professor, for his guidance and support in my pursuit of this topic. His enthusiasm and curiosity
inspired me in my research and writing. In addition, I would like to thank the University of
Pennsylvania Science, Technology and Society Department for introducing me to subjects that
have truly shaped my undergraduate academic experience.
This project would not have been possible without the unwavering encouragement from my
parents who shared their love of art and its history with me from a very young age. I would also
like to thank my brother who has continuously confirmed that interests in the hard sciences and
the arts are not mutually exclusive.
2
Abstract
Today, academic disciplines often collaborate as a means of achieving profound intellectual
truths. Twenty-first century art history exhibits this method of research in its mobilization of
chemistry, astronomy, and physics to investigate artworks. However, the beginning of art history
as an institution in the eighteenth century established the field as an elite and exclusive area of
study. The same was true of traditional sciences. It was not until museums were built and society
attributed cultural importance to artworks that the art world acknowledged the possibility of
scientific contributions, especially in the context of conservation. International political turmoil
during World War I and World War II accelerated this shift in perspective as cultural objects
stored in museums needed protection from destruction. Securing museums and ensuring
paintings and sculptures were properly stored and restored led to the introduction of conservation
science, museum laboratories, and innovative scientific techniques. Chemical analysis formed
the foundation of conservation science; however, with the development and commercialization
of infrared photography following World War I, astronomers and scientists realized that using
this radiation to analyze paintings would reveal critical aspects of the layers beneath a work’s
visible surface. This realization made infrared technology a revolutionary tool in art examination.
It also suggested that art historians and scientists were not so different in their research methods
and academic curiosities. Consequently, contemporary international networks in art and
astronomy pursue similar goals: preservation and progress.
3
INTRODUCTION
The Mona Lisa once wore a pearl necklace. The words “once wore” should not apply to a
static individual in a painting. While scholars in art history have extensively analyzed the Mona
Lisa’s smile, her eyes, whether or not she was really a she, the prospect that she wore something
other than what appears in the painting seemed implausible. With the exception of material
deterioration, the image on the surface of the canvas is the final product. This is the image we
and so many observe in museums. However, in 1992, John F. Asmus of the Institute for Pure and
Applied Physical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, published “Mona Lisa
Symbolism Uncovered by Computer Processing.”1 His analysis revealed that Leonardo Da Vinci
adorned the Mona Lisa with pearls and sat her in front of a different backdrop.
In order to conduct this research, Dr. Asmus received grants from the National Science
Foundation and the IBM Corporation.2 He used the IBM 3090 for image processing, worked
with individuals at the IBM Palo Alto Scientific Center, and digitized images at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.3 While the Louvre Museum in Paris provided the physical painting, the
actual research and processing took place exclusively in laboratories by traditionally trained
physicists. In 1986, six years before Dr. Asmus formally published his findings, The New York
Times published a piece by Walter Sullivan entitled “Space-Age Methods Penetrate Art of the
Past.” The article explained how technology used to process images of the rings of Saturn was
now being applied to art of the “great masters.”4 It may be surprising that physics was being
directly applied to research in the arts. However, the application of “space-age” technology in the
1
John F. Asmus, “Mona Lisa Symbolism Uncovered by Computer Processing,” Materials Characterization (1992):
119-128.
2
Asmus, “Mona Lisa Symbolism Uncovered by Computer Processing,” 128.
3
Asmus, “Mona Lisa Symbolism Uncovered by Computer Processing,” 128.
4
Walter Sullivan, “Space-Age Methods Explore Art of the Past,” New York Times (June 1986): C1.
4
discipline of art history is not novel nor is the participation of scientists in studying and
investigating this field. What is new is the type of technology applied.
The link between science and artwork, specifically between astronomy and painting
began at the turn of the 14th century with Giotto di Bondone’s wall painting Adoration of the
Magi. The painting or fresco depicts the Matthew 2:11 section of the Bible in which three magi
find Jesus by following a star, usually depicted as the Star of Bethlehem, and present him with
gifts.5 In Giotto’s painting what many have concluded is Halley’s Comet takes the place of the
Star of Bethlehem.6 Giotto worked on the painting in Padua, Italy, one of the new centers of
mathematics and astronomy.7
According to Roberta J. M. Olson, art historian of the New York Historical Society,
Giotto was the first to make the physical truth of astronomy a central element of a painting.8
When compared to contemporary images of Halley’s Comet, Giotto’s painting is “anatomically
correct” most likely because of his particular interest in empiricism and observation.9 Thus, the
“shooting star” in the painting appears to be his interpretation of the 1301 Halley’s Comet. The
painting was completed in 1306 and is housed in the Arena Chapel.
The astronomical aspects of Giotto’s work not only shocked his contemporaries but also
encouraged investigation by 20th century astronomers into the timing of the painting and the
placement of the comet. Jay Pasachoff, astronomer and professor at Williams College, has
collaborated with Olson on investigating Adoration of the Magi and other paintings which were
supposedly influenced by astronomy. David W. Hughes, Kevin K.C. Yau, and F. Richard
5
R. J. M. Olson and J. M. Pasachoff, "Comets, meteors, and eclipses: Art and science in early Renaissance Italy."
Meteoritics & Planetary Science 37 (2002): 1564.
6
Olson and Pasachoff, "Comets, meteors, and eclipses: Art and science in early Renaissance Italy," 1564.
7
Olson and Pasachoff, “Comets, meteors, and eclipses: Art and science in early Renaissance Italy," 1564.
8
Olson and Pasachoff, “Comets, meteors, and eclipses: Art and science in early Renaissance Italy," 1564.
9
Olson and Pasachoff, “Comets, meteors, and eclipses: Art and science in early Renaissance Italy," 1567.
5
Stephenson, referred to by Olson as “a trio of distinguished astronomers,” published “Much Ado
About Giotto’s Comet” in 1993. The piece is an analysis of the three comets that would have
been visible to Giotto in the first five years of the 14th century.10 In 1980 the European Space
Agency launched a spacecraft named Giotto, after Giotto di Bondone, to fly by and study
Halley’s Comet.11
This partnership between the art historian and the astronomer or scientist is symbiotic.
Analysis in both disciplines yields insights into the perceptions of the artist and historical events
in science. Art and science have long enjoyed a mutual respect. That is not to say there is no
tension between art historians and scientists, but rather that in their core objectives they exhibit
similar analytical skills. They are deeply concerned with materials and composition. They
develop and utilize new techniques, follow procedures, and attribute particular importance to
history.
In order to understand this modern relationship and how scientists like John Asmus or
David W. Hughes began analyzing paintings, an overview of the history of science and art is
necessary. The two fields did not formally converge until each was established as an institution,
and the integration of advanced technologies did not occur until society underwent a significant
socio-political shift. More specifically, new photographic technologies of World War I and the
commercialization of these instruments meant that the application of science for national
protection would expand to include cultural protection. This cultural relevance would ultimately
yield a partnership between the scientist and the art historian, one in which understanding artistic
truths was consistent with understanding scientific truths.
10
D. W. Hughes, K. K. C. Yau, and F. R. Stephenson, "Giotto's Comet--was it the Comet of 1304 and not Comet
Halley?" Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 34 (1992): 21-32.
11
David Leverington, New Cosmic Horizons: Space Astronomy from the V2 to the Hubble Space Telescope.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 128.
6
ORGANIZATION AS INSTITUTIONS
In the centuries following Giotto’s painting, art, its mediums, and its subjects evolved.
The same can be said for science and, more specifically, the fields of astronomy, physics, and
mathematics during the Copernican Revolution. The paradigmatic Renaissance man Leonardo da
Vinci simultaneously acted as a scientist and an artist. Where art and science differentiated
themselves was in their institutions. In science, organization within universities and the
formalizing of communication through societies and journals began in 1660 with the Royal
Society of London.12
The Society acted as a platform for scientists to report observations and discoveries while
corresponding with members through the Philosophical Transactions.13 Societies in France and
Germany developed in the 18th century, and the Royal Astronomical Society was founded in
1820. These institutions exhibited an air of exclusivity and prestige.14 In France, Louis XIV’s
centralized government funded the Académie Royale des Sciences with the expectation that the
society would produce tools for navigation and travel. Thus, scientific organizations began to
take on a national role, contributing to the power of a given state.
In the context of art, artwork was first formally displayed in a public institution in 1793
with the opening of the Louvre in Paris.15 That is not to say art was not important before this
period but rather that there was not a government funded institution organized specifically for the
public display of a collection. The Louvre was the world’s first museum. It opened immediately
following the French Revolution as a means of empowering the French people and granting them
12
Peter J. Bowler and Iwan Rhys Morus, Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2005), 323.
13
Bowler and Morus, Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey, 325.
14
Bowler and Morus, Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey, 325.
15
Douglas Brent McBride, “Modernism and the Museum Revisited,” The German Critique, no. 99 (Fall 2006): 212.
7
access to the home of the French monarchy.16 The museum and its works functioned as national
symbols. Following the opening of the Louvre, European nations increasingly established
museums as representations of patriotism and national unity. Several museums opened in
national monuments or buildings that resembled government architecture as was the case with
Germany’s National Gallery. 17 These nineteenth century museums attracted an audience
sympathetic to royalty and maintained the activity of museum-going as a high-society interest.
As institutions, scientific societies and art museums were distinct entities.
With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the perception of national power shifted
towards technological innovation and economic superiority. The Great Exhibition of London in
1851 in the Crystal Palace embodied this image of technological innovation.18 The Royal Society
of the Arts, an institution founded in 1754 and based in London, organized the building of the
Crystal Palace which would house popular science and demonstrate its applications.19 Michael
Faraday, Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution of London, sat on the board of
the Great Exhibition.20 Faraday’s work in electromagnetism and electrochemistry targeted
exposing metropolitan socialites to the newest discoveries. His lectures carried over to the
national popularization and utilization of these innovations.21 One of the aims of the Royal
Institution and the ultimate goal of the Great Exhibition was to demonstrate technical solutions to
society’s problems.
16
McBride, “Modernism and the Museum Revisited,” 212.
McBride, “Modernism and the Museum Revisited,” 213-214
18
John McKean, “Joseph Paxton: Crystal Palace London 1851,” in Lost Masterpieces, by John McKean, Stuart
Durant and Steve Parissien (London: Phaidon, 1999),.
19
McKean, “Joseph Paxton: Crystal Palace London 1851,”
20
James Hamilton, Faraday: The Life (London: HarperCollins, 2002), 265.
21
Bowler and Morus, Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey, 334, 372.
17
8
On opening day, the Great Exhibition drew crowds of over 25,000 to London.22 It
exposed middle class Britons and tourists to technology’s commoditization.23 However, crowds
were not drawn solely to the Crystal Palace; they also visited London’s museums and cultural
centers, among them, the National Gallery.
The National Gallery opened in 1824 with a collection of pieces from a British banker
and local artists who promised their pictures to “the nation.”24 The museum’s first director,
Charles Lock Eastlake, was appointed in 1855; however, he worked as the museum’s keeper
beginning in the 1840s.25 In 1853, just two years after the Great Exhibition, concerns regarding
the physical conditions of the pieces and the environment of the museum building surfaced as
paintings began to deteriorate.26 Subsequently, Eastlake, as the museum’s chief representative,
called upon Michael Faraday for scientific consultation.27 This marks the first partnership
between an art institution and a scientist.
THE BEGINNING OF CONSERVATION SCIENCE
In 1853, Michael Faraday joined the Select Committee of the National Gallery in order to
contribute to the investigation of the cleanliness of the paintings.28 His work in popular science
and at the Great Exhibition demonstrated his willingness to contribute his technical work to
society. In the 1820s and 30s Faraday worked closely with the military and the navy and made
22
Jeffrey A. Auerbach, The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display (Yale University Press, 1999), 1.
Auerbach, The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display, 2.
24
“About the Building,” The National Gallery, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/history/about-thebuilding/
25
“About the Building,” The National Gallery, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/history/about-thebuilding/
26
Jilleen Nadolny, "The first century of published scientific analyses of the materials of historical painting and
polychromy, circa 1780-1880," Reviews in Conservation (2003): 39-51.
27
Hamilton, Faraday: The Life, 375.
28
James Hamilton, Faraday: The Life. (London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002), 375.
23
9
contributions to metallurgy.29 However, from the beginning of his career, he expressed interest in
art and painting. His first job, an errand boy under George Riebau who ran a book binding shop,
encouraged Faraday to read a variety of topics, including those related to art.30 He explored The
Repository of Arts and Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.31 In addition, Richard Cosway, a British
painter who regularly visited Riebau’s shop, interacted with Faraday. He also met with other
artists and scientists during this early employment.32 At the very least, these interactions exposed
Faraday to artistic context.
In his work on the Select Committee of the National Gallery, Faraday collaborated with
painter William Russell and conservator John Ruskin to determine the causes of dirt and
discoloration of the paintings.33 These individuals, all with different specialties, came together in
order to better conserve and preserve British paintings, pieces of British culture and national
heritage. The Committee determined that paintings decayed quickly for several reasons including
London’s sulfurous air, the volume of visitors, dirt from people’s shoes, residue from food and
drink, and contamination from ventilator pipes.34
Faraday analyzed the chemical composition of the paintings and their contaminants. He
determined that ammonia and sulfur vapors were the primary discoloration causes.35 Remedy
suggestions included air conditioning as a temperature control and enclosing paintings in glass.36
Most on the Committee rejected the idea of placing the artwork behind glass because it would
alter the museum-going experience. Instead, varnishes served as the primary protection
29
Hamilton, Faraday: The Life, 375.
Hamilton, Faraday: The LifeI, 7.
31
Hamilton, Faraday: The LifeI, 8.
32
Hamilton, Faraday: The Life, 15.
33
Norman Bromelle, "Material for a History of Conservation. The 1850 and 1853 Reports on the National Gallery"
Studies in Conservation 2, no. 4 (Oct 1956): 177.
34
Bromelle , "Material for a History of Conservation. The 1850 and 1853 Reports on the National Gallery," 177.
35
Bromelle, "Material for a History of Conservation. The 1850 and 1853 Reports on the National Gallery," 181.
36
Bromelle, "Material for a History of Conservation. The 1850 and 1853 Reports on the National Gallery," 178.
30
10
technology. From his varnish experiments, Faraday claimed that a mastic varnish, a resin derived
from plants, would completely protect the paint and act as a barrier against hydrogen sulfide and
other fumes.37
In his work on the Committee and his discussions with Sir Charles Eastlake, the soon to
be Gallery director, Faraday expressed the view that “a person of competent chemical
knowledge, and a little acquainted also with the practice of painting in ancient and modern times
might be valuably employed” at a museum. 38 However, the National Gallery did not embrace the
employment of a full-time museum chemist until 1948, almost a century later.
In Germany, the approach was slightly different. Although Faraday was the first scientist
to advise a museum, there was a higher participation rate of German scientists in art museum
conservation, and, before the turn of the century, German museums began hiring full-time
scientists as members of museum staff. In 1863, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich asked Max von
Pettenkofer, Bavarian Professor of Medicine and Chemistry, to investigate its restoration
practices.39 Although Pettenkofer was not part of the museum staff, he acted as a regular
consultant at the Alte Pinakothek.
Pettenkofer invented a new technique for rejuvenating decayed varnish.40 He, like
Faraday, prided himself on working in multiple fields and believed that a cross-disciplinary
approach would contribute to social progress. As a result, he strived towards the application of
chemistry in “every possible field of human endeavor.”41 In his first occupation, he worked as an
37
Bromelle, "Material for a History of Conservation. The 1850 and 1853 Reports on the National Gallery," 184.
Michael Faraday in Bromelle, "Material for a History of Conservation. The 1850 and 1853 Reports on the
National Gallery" 184.
39
Theodor Siegl, "Conservation," Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 62, no. 291 (1966): 131.
40
Theodor Siegl, "Conservation," Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 62, no. 291 (1966): 131.
41
Max von Pettenkofer, The Value of Health to a City: Two Lectures Delivered in 1873 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
Press, 1941), 2.
38
11
apprentice at the Royal Court Pharmacy and studied medicine.42 His interests spanned a wide
range of industries including dentistry and public health. 43 Pettenkofer believed that these
scientific applications, along with those in art restoration, “could be used as a measure of
civilization.”44 This philosophy formed the foundation for the museum-scientist relationship.
Following Pettenkofer’s museum work in Munich, the Royal Museum of Berlin decided
to hire a full time scientist to conserve and preserve its works.45 In 1888, the Museum hired
German chemist Dr. Friedrich Rathgen.46 Dr. Rathgen became the father of conservation
science47 and published The Preservation of Antiques: A Handbook for Curators in 1905.48
Rathgen stated that he hoped to “stimulate the Curators of State, Municipal and Societies’
Collections.”49 His handbook acted as a crossover guide. Its publication demonstrated that the art
world could, in fact, acquire massive gains with respect to preservation and conservation if it
embraced a scientific approach. He noted that “a certain amount of chemical knowledge is
assumed” but that the methods “may be readily carried out by those who are unfamiliar with
chemical methods.”50 Such statements suggest that, while the foundation of chemistry was
necessary in establishing conservation methods, the actual practice only required ability in
understanding procedure; an academic process with which art historians were familiar.
Rathgen’s publication was the first of a series of conservation science publications that
would soon penetrate the art world. However, the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did
42
Pettenkofer, The Value of Health to a City: Two Lectures Delivered in 1873, 2.
Pettenkofer, The Value of Health to a City: Two Lectures Delivered in 1873, 5.
44
Pettenkofer, The Value of Health to a City: Two Lectures Delivered in 1873, 16.
45
Barbara H. Berrie, "Fine Art Examination and Conservation," Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology 11 (2000):
398.
46
Berrie, "Fine Art Examination and Conservation," 398.
47
Mark Gilberg, "Friedrich Rathgen: The Father of Modern Archaelogical Conservation," Journal of the American
Institute for Conservation 26, no. 2 (1987): 105-120.
48
Berrie, "Fine Art Examination and Conservation," 398.
49
Friedrich Rathgen, The Preservation of Antiquities: A Handbook for Curators (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1905), v.
50
Rathgen, The Preservation of Antiquities: A Handbook for Curators, vi.
43
12
not yet fully embrace the scientist as an art contributor. In Great Britain and the United States, art
historians expressed skepticism towards scientists, notably chemists, who dabbled in the material
analysis of paintings.
THE ART HISTORIAN VS. THE SCIENTIST
The delay in hiring full-time museum scientists largely stems from art history’s
institutional setting. More specifically, as an academic discipline, art history is based on the
evolution of academic traditions and frameworks which began with Giorgio Vesari’s Lives of the
Artists in the sixteenth century.51 The perspective of art historians relies on understanding the
evolution of a piece through the relationship between the artist, the work, and the socio-political
environment of the time of creation.52 Art historians also analyze the history of a work following
its creation which includes questions of where it was displayed, whether or not it was purchased,
and to what extent it received popular praise. Much of this investigation takes place within
museums and art societies. Art historians are also responsible for choosing the layout of works in
a museum and for displaying works of merit, ultimately voicing the universal opinion on art.53
Thus, resistance to hiring a full-time scientist and to establishing a museum science
department partly originates in art history’s culture. When John Ruskin worked with Michael
Faraday on the Select Committee of the National Gallery, he was particularly irritated that
Faraday delved into the art world with minimal traditional training in this academic discipline.
Ruskin claimed that Faraday’s scientific expertise would not translate into the world of museums
because he was not academically oriented toward art analysis.
51
Steve Edwards ed., Art and its Histories: A Reader (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 3.
Edwards, Art and its Histories: A Reader, 3.
53
Edwards, Art and its Histories: A Reader, 5.
52
13
Ruskin’s Modern Painters, his most famous work in which he defends British painter J.
M. W. Turner, sheds light upon his commitment to the academic study of art. He boasts “I have
now given ten years of my life to the single purpose of enabling myself to judge rightly of art,”54
his ultimate goal being “to ascertain, and be able to teach, the truth respecting art.”55 This quest
for “truth” is not unique to art research; it is universally sought after by academics. However,
Ruskin’s attachment to this discipline led to his frustration with those who had not devoted
extensive time to the field but spoke as though they were well versed in the subject. He stated
that “it is as ridiculous for anyone to speak positively about painting who has not given a great
part of his life to its study, as it would be for a person who had never studied chemistry to give a
lecture on affinities of elements.”56 His direct reference to chemistry suggests the tension
between the two fields and that he viewed the academic intensity associated with each as
separate but equal. His statements also indicate the exclusivity of art and science; that they are
not interdisciplinary and that the skill sets involved in each study are not transferable. Ruskin
staunchly opposed incorporating scientific opinion into the art world. However, he failed to
recognize the benefits of scientific application.
In 1927, James Greig, an American art critic, expressed concerns similar to those of
Ruskin. He recounted the problems involved in a chemical analysis of artwork in the absence of
an art expert. After observing a piece, he noticed that “on the body of the Virgin were splashes of
crude colour wholly different in handling, age and harmony from that of the original painting.
That was absolutely apparent.”57 However, what was “absolutely apparent” to Greig was
overlooked by the accompanying chemist who noted that the paints were “applied at the same
54
John Ruskin, Modern Painters. Of Many Things 3 (New York: John Wiley, 1863), vi.
Ruskin, Modern Painters. Of Many Things 3, vi.
56
Ruskin, Modern Painters. Of Many Things 3, vii.
57
James Greig, "The Forger and the Detective," The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 51, no. 293 (1927): 102.
55
14
period.”58 According to Greig, the chemist was not versed in the anatomy of art and asked Greig,
as an art expert, to “assist me in my work of detection.”59 Greig refused to assist the chemist.
This account took place before American scientists and art experts were working together in an
interdisciplinary environment.
In the 1920s and 30s, art critics and art historians began writing pieces which
demonstrated that scientific thought processes and practices were not so different from those of
the art historian. William M. Ivins, Jr. of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote that the
scientist, similar to the art historian, must consider facts when formulating a hypothesis, and that
“a fact unknown or overlooked can destroy the labor of a lifetime.”60 He further noted that a
scientist must first assess that which exists in the “concrete” before reaching conclusions.
Mirroring this procedure, Ivins analyzed an Impressionist piece by Édouard Manet. Based on the
body of works he had critiqued, he asserted that Manet imitated “the three figures in the lower
right-hand corner of Marc Antonio’s Judgment of Paris.”61 In 1927, questions regarding the
authenticity of a series of Dutch paintings on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
surfaced. Art critics and scientists, working separately, began investigating these claims. Art
historians rely on precedents. They know hundreds upon thousands of artists, their works, their
styles, and their stories. These are their facts and their evidence. They conduct research, they
investigate, they form hypotheses, and they come to conclusions. This procedure takes place in
many higher level academic disciplines.
While the specific skill set and context are considered distinct, the actual sequence of
research and investigation spans across subjects that rely on understanding and applying theory.
58
Greig, "The Forger and the Detective," 102.
Greig, "The Forger and the Detective," 102.
60
Ivins, "Italian Renaissance Prints," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 18, no. 6 (1923): 150.
61
Ivins, "Italian Renaissance Prints," 150.
59
15
Arthur Pillans Laurie, chemistry professor and member of the Royal Academy of the Arts in
London analyzed the approach of each discipline. He noted that an art critic who uses his
knowledge of pictures “may tell us that he is satisfied as to the authenticity of a picture because
of its merits as a work of genius and because of its revealing the special style and methods of the
artist.”62 According to Laurie, this approach, while widely accepted, can be erroneous. He
suggested that a chemical examination of the painting can lead to alternate conclusions and that
in a recent case “an X-ray photograph” revealed that the pigment of the paint and the
construction of the canvas was actually much more modern and created in an entirely different
period from what the art critic assumed.63 When the chemist is not involved, a surface conclusion
based on “style and manner of painting” are the primary “facts.”
Laurie heavily supported the scientist’s participation in art examination with the help of
the art historian. In fact, while the chemist can accurately determine forged signatures and
pigment dating, he cannot “decide whether the picture is by a master or by one of his pupils.”64
Thus, he requires the wealth of knowledge from the art historian. Furthermore, Laurie stated that
the art historian would be “foolish to dabble in an amateur way with scientific methods of
identification.”65 Both examination approaches, artistic and scientific, demand extensive training.
The collaboration of the two fields can result in insightful conclusions when each party pledges
to contribute. However, some art historians continued to resist scientific association.
The two fields did not mutually appreciate each other until the museum laboratory was
established in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions. The laboratory, a formal
scientific conservation department, was deemed necessary by the museum board, its trustees,
62
A. P. Laurie, A. L. Nicholson, and Hugh Blaker, "The Identification of Forged Pictures," The Burlington Magazine
for Connoisseurs 50, no. 291 (1927): 342.
63
Laurie, "The Identification of Forged Pictures," 342.
64
Laurie, "The Identification of Forged Pictures," 342.
65
Laurie, "The Identification of Forged Pictures," 343.
16
and, most importantly, the government, as a means of preserving a nation’s most prized cultural
items. Where the objective of a museum is to strive to conserve, preserve, and display art, the
museum laboratory became necessary in realizing all three of these goals, especially in the years
following World War I.
POST WWI MUSEUM LABORATORIES
In 1932, The Burlington Magazine declared that the examination of masterpieces should
be “entrusted to a fully equipped and highly trained art scientist” who would provide additional
data for the so-called “orthodox art expert.”66 The Magazine also indicated that, with respect to
photographing and examining artwork, the scientist would communicate “whether X-ray or ultraviolet ray examination is advisable.”67 This declaration not only illustrated acceptance of
scientific application but also that these applications would become necessary in art analysis. The
popular declaration demonstrated a cultural shift in art history. However, this change in spirit
was not a product of the art world. Instead, it arose as a post-war mentality. The international
chaos of the Great War, or World War I, created a foundation in modern scientific application.
Art museums experienced this political atmosphere during and after the war. It was this
atmosphere that mandated the creation of museum laboratories.
During WWI, American and British museums moved art into storage facilities in order to
ensure the pieces would not be damaged within the museum building.68 Museum staff and
government entities increasingly viewed museums as representations of national power and
cultural history. As a result, they feared that these buildings would become cultural war targets.
66
“Scientific Examination of Old Masters,” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 60 (May 1932): 261.
“Scientific Examination of Old Masters,” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 60 (May 1932): 261.
68
“The Gallery in Wartime,” The National Gallery, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/history/the-galleryin-wartime/
67
17
When the war ended and paintings and sculptures could return to their original sites, paintings
were noticeably different. Storage facilities did not have proper temperature controls and,
according to Faraday’s 1853 survey of the National Gallery, humidity affected pigments,
canvases, and the rate of deterioration. In response to the damage, museums required in-house
scientific consultations and often needed to bring works to formal laboratories.69
In 1919, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in London asked Dr.
Alexander Scott, former President of the Chemical Society, to investigate the conditions of
British Museum antiques that were stored in London’s underground transportation system during
the war.70 The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research emerged as a government
funded institution at the start of the war. The wartime advisory committee championed its
foundation following the creation of the National Physical Laboratory which was established at
the turn of the century.71 The Department was meant to investigate and participate in civil service
activities while partnering with university science departments. 72
During the war, the fear that national relics might have undergone significant damage
warranted government intervention. The existence of the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research as a body oriented towards civil service made this form of museum government
intervention plausible. In 1920, following Dr. Scott’s assessment of the antiques, a building
separate from the British Museum’s physical site accommodated the British Museum
Laboratory.73 A group of scientists investigated damaged antiques and restoration methods and
69
A. E. Werner and R. M. Organ, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 6: The New Laboratory of the British
Museum," Sudies in Conservation 7, no. 3 (1962): 75.
70
Werner and Organ, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 6: The New Laboratory of the British Museum," 75.
71
Frank M. Turner, "Public Science in Britain, 1880-1919," Isis 71, no. 4 (1980): 607.
72
Turner, "Public Science in Britain, 1880-1919," 607.
73
Werner and Organ, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 6: The New Laboratory of the British Museum," 75.
18
brought many pieces back to display-worthy conditions.74 The Laboratory gained additional
funding, moved into a larger building, and eventually became a permanent feature of the British
Museum. The collaborative effort involved in establishing the Museum Laboratory meant that
other government departments and British cultural centers would regularly utilize the facility as
an advanced civil service resource.
Across the Atlantic, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) was the first American
museum to approve a laboratory. The MFA founded the laboratory in 1930 to contribute to the
museum’s overall mission of “collecting, exhibiting, preserving, and interpreting” artwork.75
Divided into four departments, conservation, preparation, examination, and research, the
laboratory prioritized based on the demand of the collection and environmental conditions.
During its first decade of operation, the laboratory focused on conservation, a necessary measure
following WWI.76 However, the research department also began to delve into art examination
beyond deterioration. Military developments in photography made this new realm of art
examination possible. Subsequent commercial availability of these war technologies meant that
such tools would eventually become permanent fixtures in museum laboratories.
During the war, research and development in camera lenses, chemical filters, and the
electromagnetic spectrum created new expectations with respect to light, visibility, penetration,
and attention to detail. The mobilization of photography research laboratories and the associated
increase in funding indicated that the military required efficient and effective photographic tools.
Charles Edward Kenneth Mees, the first director of Kodak Research Laboratories, noted that
before this military application, photography satisfied the artistic aspirations for those who “did
74
Werner and Organ, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 6: The New Laboratory of the British Museum," 75.
Diggory Venn, "The Hidden Museum: An Account of the Services of the Staff of the Museum of Fine Arts,"
Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 62 , no. 327 (1964): 5.
76
Venn, "The Hidden Museum: An Account of the Services of the Staff of the Museum of Fine Arts," 5.
75
19
not possess artistic talent.”77 It was not until the 1930s, when new developments in photography
became commercially available at lower costs, that military and scientific techniques would enter
the art world and find a home in museum laboratories.
WORLD WAR I AND THE RISE OF INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY
In 1727, a German physician experimenting with chemical compounds and sun exposure
developed the camera obscura, first instrument used for image capturing.78 During the second
half of the eighteenth century, chemistry was the primary science associated with image
capturing.79 However, World War I primarily utilized infrared photography which originated in
astronomy, not chemistry. This astronomical discovery ushered in a new age of military strategy
based on photography. It established a tactical advantage in image clarity and visibility.
Infrared is different from ultraviolet rays or X-rays because it penetrates certain
materials, making them transparent in photographs. The wavelengths are longer than ultraviolet
rays or X-rays, also invisible to the human eye and are longer than the wavelengths in the visible
light spectrum.80 Infrared radiation breaks down into five categories: near infrared, short
wavelength infrared, mid wavelength infrared, long wavelength infrared, and far infrared which
range from shortest to longest wavelength, respectively.81 When applied to cameras, telescopes,
and microscopes, infrared filters can see through natural and synthetic organic surfaces.
Transparent natural organic products include gelatin, cellulose, chitin, all of which are animal
proteins and are active ingredients in some painting varnishes. Rubber, shellac, resins, ebonite,
77
C. E. Kenneth Mees, From Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research (Rochester, New
York: Eastman Kodak Company, 1961), 1.
78
Mees, From Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 2.
79
Mees, From Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 2.
80
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 13.
81
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 13.
20
wood, and some inks are also transparent under infrared.82 One noteworthy material
impenetrable to infrared light is carbon black, an ink commonly used by artists to create
drawings and sketches before applying paint to canvas.83
Understanding the crossover of infrared technology into the military world and later into
the art world requires an analysis of the evolution of infrared’s discovery and application.
Infrared wavelengths were discovered accidentally in 1800 by Sir William Herschel,84 but the
radiation was not used in photography until 1880.85 During a solar observation session, Herschel
noticed that his glasses and telescope became warm when he observed red portions of the solar
spectrum, the longest wavelengths of visible light.86 As a result, Herschel concluded that the
spectrum extended beyond the visible spectrum and shifted to invisible heat.87
Infrared light underwent over half a century of investigation before practical application.
In 1814, Joseph von Fraunhofer discovered absorption lines, now known as Fraunhofer lines, in
the sun’s spectrum and revealed that the visible spectrum could be disrupted by reflection.88
Around the same period, Sir John Herschel, William Herschel’s son, began experimenting with
photography and red rays which would later be called photochemistry. He discovered that the
82
Clark, Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and Applications, 361.
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 21.
84
Herschel, like other astronomers and scientists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, explored disciplines
outside scientific academia. He was deeply involved in music and worked as a composer. In fact, his interest in
wavelengths originated in his aspiration to understand the sounds of musical instruments. See Sime, Herschel and
his Work, 155-7.
85
James Sime, Herschel and his Work (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1900), 155-7.
86
William Herschel, “Experiments on the Solar, and on the Terrestrial Rays that Occasion Heat: With a Comparative
View of the Laws to Which Light and Heat, or Rather the Rays Which Occasion Them, are Subject, in Order to
Determine Whether they are the Same, or Different. Part II,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London 90 (1800): 437-538.
87
E. Scott Barr, "The Infrared Pioneers--I. Sir William Herschel," Infrared Physics 1, (1961): 1-4.
88
H. W. Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone (New York: The Chemical Publishing Company, 1941), 14.
83
21
rays could reduce or reverse a printout image onto a silver chloride paper which was coined as
the Herschel effect.89
Infrared’s ultimate application in the art world did not occur until after its application as a
military technology. This delay was not solely the result of limited commercial availability.
Beginning in the 1850s with Faraday’s participation in the Select Committee for the National
Gallery, museums understood that they had a stake in scientific developments. However, the
application of these developments and a scientist’s willingness to apply them relies on his
fundamental understanding of a specific discovery and its features. Thus, the delay in military
and eventually art utilization of infrared radiation from the time of discovery was a consequence
of the time lag involved in understanding potential non-astronomical infrared applications.
The first intentional utilization of infrared in photography occurred in the late 1870s
when Captain William Abney photographed up to 10,000 Å90 wavelength and published a map
of the infrared region of the solar spectrum ranging from 7,160 Å to 10,000 Å. Abney presented
elements of his research to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1880. The president of the society
praised Captain Abney, stating that “the subject brought to our notice by Captain Abney is one of
extreme importance because at the present day we know the great value of recording the lines of
the solar spectrum and the bright lines of the elements.”91 The importance the president was
referring to was that of visualizing the invisible spectrum.
In addition, Abney’s application marked the first color mapping, a system in which colors
could be identified with numbers.92 In the second half of the twentieth century the color-number
89
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 15.
-10
Å stands for angstrom and is a unit of length associated with 10 meters.
91
“Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society,” Astronomical register 14 (1876): 85-6.
92
Ivars Peterson, "Paint by Digit," Science News 122, no. 20 (1982) : 314-315.
90
22
system would revolutionize art digitization and analysis.93 In labeling the colors, Abney stated
that “the indigo as 15, the green might be put down as 10, the yellow as 5, and A as 1.”94 This
number system corresponded with minutes of exposure and allowed for further investigation of
chemical elements. The president of the Royal Astronomical Society also expressed excitement,
stating that “I can hardly speak too strongly of the importance of this discovery in connection
with the great advance…in spectroscopy.95”96 In 1912, R. W. Wood, Johns Hopkins University
Physics Professor, was the first to take infrared photographs of the Moon. 97 In 1916 he applied
the same method of photography to Jupiter and Saturn.98 1912 was also the year Kodak Research
Laboratories was founded in Rochester, New York under Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees.
In addition to astronomical infrared photography, the 1880s also saw a rise in the
manufacturing of photographic materials.99 Wratten & Wainwright, one of the first companies to
produce these materials, was founded in 1877 in London. In 1880, the same year Captain Abney
presented his spectral map, George Eastman founded the Kodak Company on the basis of selling
gelatin plates to professional photographers in Rochester. The two companies would merge in
1912 when Mr. Eastman bought Wratten & Wainwright and appointed Dr. Mees, a former
Wratten director, to act as the head of Kodak Research Laboratories.
93
Andrea Casini, Franco Lotti, Marcello Picollo, Lorenzo Stefani, and Ezio Buzzegoli, "Image Spectroscopy Mapping
Technique for Non-Invasive Analysis of Paintings," Studies in Conservation 44, no. 1 (1999): 39-48.
94
“Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society,” 86.
95
Spectroscopy, the mapping of the electromagnetic spectrum, would become extremely important in art
applications of infrared.
96
“Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society,” 87.
97
W. H. Wright, "Photographs of Mars Made with Light of Different Colors," Publications of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific 36, no. 213 (1924): 240.
98
W. H. Wright, "Photographs of Mars Made with Light of Different Colors," Publications of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific 36, no. 213 (1924): 240.
99
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 12.
23
Dr. Mees led the Eastman Kodak Company to produce improved plates for spectroscopic
and astronomical work.100 Traditionally trained chemists focused on enhancing sensitivity and
speed in photographic plate development, both considered to be a photographer’s primary
concerns. Dr. Mees declared that Kodak would “be in a position not only to make its own
materials for investigation but to make experimental materials on a comparatively large scale.”101
From a military perspective, this foundation of scale was vital, especially in a field that would
contribute to the war effort.
In its first decade, Kodak Research Laboratories focused research in its physics
department. The experiments dealt with photometry, sensitometry, or the study of plate
sensitivity to light, spectroscopy, and colorimetry, all fields that relate to the eye’s sensitivity to
color and the accuracy of color and material reproduction.102 The department initially used
visible light and ultraviolet spectroscopes. X-ray technologies were the next form of invisible
light filtration to be introduced into the Kodak Research Laboratories.103 Infrared spectroscopy
was still undeveloped in photography’s manufacturing industry. However, government
involvement in the industry would generate its introduction into the commercial market.
The leading physicists at Kodak’s lab were former members of the National Bureau of
Standards, now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is an
agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is “to promote U.S.
innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and
technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.”104 In April
1917, Kodak Research Laboratories also committed to this mission as the United States declared
100
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 44.
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 44.
102
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 45.
103
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 48.
104
“NIST General Information,” http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/general_information.cfm
101
24
war on Germany.105 The National Defense Council, the Science and Research Department of the
Army, and the Bureau of Aircraft Production partnered with Eastman Kodak to maximize the
value of photography during the war effort.106 Physicists from the Laboratories were asked to
provide information and training sessions in aerial photography, and between 1917 and 1918,
Kodak devoted the majority of its time and resources to these military concerns.107
These efforts harnessed the same methods of Dr. Wood and other astrophysicists,
methods used to analyze the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn between 1912 and 1916. Scholars from
the period noted that “photographic methods were employed in the recent war to an extent never
known before in military history.”108 The “methods” involved infrared aerial photography and
provided critical visual information from various strategic viewpoints. Eastman Kodak
Company offered non-commercial color-sensitive plates for the military’s scientific investigation
in photography. The company manufactured and distributed emulsions still under
experimentation specifically for war work.109 Similarly, the Cramer Dry Plate Company, another
photography institute, produced infrared plates as a special military product. 110 During the war,
the Science and Research Division of the Bureau of Aircraft Production handled the
manufacturing of photosensitizing dyes which could be applied to photographic plates in order
filter colors and materials of a given image.111
The government “under the stress of a great emergency, acknowledged its [infrared
photography’s] value and supplied it with funds as never before.”112 The infrared military
105
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 55.
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 55.
107
Mees, Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research, 57.
108
Paul W. Merrill, "Progress in Photography Resulting from the War," Publications of the Astronomical Society of
the Pacific 32, no. 185 (1920): 17.
109
Merrill, "Progress in Photography Resulting from the War," 19.
110
Merrill, "Progress in Photography Resulting from the War," 19.
111
Merrill, "Progress in Photography Resulting from the War," 22.
112
Merrill, "Progress in Photography Resulting from the War," 16.
106
25
“value” was its ability to penetrate atmospheric haze and short wavelength reflections. In doing
so, infrared photographs not only took clearer images that were less distorted, but also allowed
for higher quality distance photography. Such advances were necessary in the context of aerial
photography as a military strategy. Infrared film would provide critical knowledge in locating
military units through the haze and identifying individuals wearing camouflage.113
Immediately following World War I, the investigation of sensitizing agents in order to
improve resolution and detail in infrared photography came to the forefront of physics and
astronomy. In 1920, Paul W. Merrill, a member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
published a piece entitled “Progress in Photography Resulting from the War.” He noted that
military authorities allowed for “the publication of a great deal of material of general interest” 114
which sparked scientific, medical, and eventually art applications. In 1922, chemists applied
infra-red spectroscopy extensively in their study of molecular structures and organic
substances.115 It was also used to discover new stars and to determine temperatures of cooler
stars. Stars which were not detectable through the popular telescopes of the time were likely
obscured by atmospheric haze and nebular haze. In addition, infrared photography contributed to
understanding planetary atmospheres. In the 1920s, Mars was under specific examination
because of questions related to whether or not life existed on the planet. Astronomers, physicists,
and chemists determined that Mars lacked the oxygen required to support life, squashing
hypotheses and fears that there were living beings in outer space.116 Examining Venus under
infrared drew the same conclusions and revealed that the planet was extremely rich in carbon
113
Walter Clark, Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and Applications (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1939),
262.
114
Merrill, "Progress in Photography Resulting from the War," 16.
115
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 80.
116
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 84.
26
dioxide.117 Observing Jupiter and Saturn with the filter indicated their composition primarily of
ammonia and methane. These atmospheric observations illustrate that astronomers were not only
collecting data but also answering larger questions about the universe.
In 1924, the Lick Observatory took photographs of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
other mountain ranges with infrared photography and revealed clarity that had never before been
seen.118 In 1927, H. M. Randall from the University of Michigan’s Department of Physics
published “Infrared Spectroscopy” and noted that information from the infrared spectra is “not
only worthy of our endeavor but necessary for the development of the theories of band spectra
and the related problems of molecular structure.”119 In 1928, Eastman Kodak released
Panchromatic K, the first infrared negative film.120 Panchromatic plates, as advertised by the
Wratten division of Eastman Kodak, were supposed to supply “a far more truthful photograph”
with respect to color perception.121 Thus, infrared technology not only remedied problems
associated with image clarity but also enhanced knowledge of the universe and the physical
environment. Understanding and publicizing these valuable features of infrared radiation would
broaden its post-war application.
COMMERCIAL INFRARED
In 1930, Kodak declared infrared as modern photography, and in 1931, infrared plates
were placed on the commercial market by Eastman Kodak in the United States, by Ilford Limited
in Great Britain, and by Agfa in Germany.122 In 1933, Olaf F. Bloch, President of the Royal
117
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 85.
H. M. Randall, "Infra-red Spectroscopy." Science 65, no. 1677 (Feb. 18, 1927): 173.
119
H. M. Randall, "Infra-red Spectroscopy." Science 65, no. 1677 (Feb. 18, 1927): 173.
120
“Material Name: infrared film,” BFA (see notes)
121
“Wratten Panchromatic Plates,” Kodak Limited (Wratten Division), Kingsway, London (1918).
122
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 19.
118
27
Photographic Society and scientist at Ilford Laboratories, published “Recent Developments in
Infrared Photography” in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. After summarizing the
discovery and history of infrared photography, he enthusiastically stated that “two new infra-red
sensitizers have been synthesized by Eastman Kodak Research Laboratory.”123 At the same time,
Bloch’s Ilford Research Laboratories, in Essex, had also released a new dye which enabled
higher speed infrared photography and cleaner processing.
However, infrared’s characteristics were not always accurately interpreted. Even after
over a century of research and investigation, “haze penetration” was not a universal term; it
meant something very different for aerial photographers than it did for photographers at sea.
Seamen wrongly believed that infrared photography could penetrate fog which is much thicker
and denser than atmospheric haze. 124 They thought that is would be revolutionary in navigation
as captains and crew members would know exactly what was ahead of them in the waters.
Nonetheless, this proved to be false, and infrared application was much better suited for aerial
photography and long distance landscape photography. 125
Infrared’s ability to cut out all ultraviolet light which often causes haze in photographs
was one of its most attractive and most valuable features in long distance and aerial
photography.126 Images were clearer and more detailed because the atmospheric dust and haze
did not interfere with the infrared spectrum. After WWI, Captain A.W. Stevens took photographs
from an elevation of 23,000 feet, the first photographs of their kind. He observed mountains,
streams, lakes, and people with higher contrast.127 The U.S. Army Air Corps used Stevens’
123
Olaf F. Bloch, "Recent Developments in Infra-red Photography," Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 81, no. 4185
(Feb. 3, 1933): 264.
124
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 20.
125
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 20.
126
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 44.
127
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 19.
28
images as a means of enhancing knowledge of the composition of the ground and in
supplementing maps which were old, outdated, or lacked proper information.128 Thus, even with
its commercial availability, the military continued to use the technology as a means of enhancing
knowledge about environmental terrain.
In his state of enthusiasm, Bloch lists the various fields that could benefit from the new
infrared based on its absorptive and transmissive properties. He explicitly highlights document
analysis in that infrared would enhance the “method of procedure dealing with erasures, blacking
out, over-writing and supposed forgeries.”129 Although paintings were not mentioned in this
initial survey of potential infrared applications, the mention of overwriting and forgeries in
document investigation signaled potential in art investigation.
Bloch additionally emphasized infrared use in portraiture, noting that infrared portraits
are “far from flattering” because they reveal underlying hair and human features that most
individuals prefer to conceal.130 However, the method could be used in medicine as a means of
penetrating scabs, viewing skin treatment progress, and detecting skin infections. It was also
used to observe superficial veins. In ophthalmology, infrared photography was applied in order
to examine the iris of eyes which had turned opaque.131 Along with these new applications, the
more established methods in astronomy and aerial photography all indicate that the medium
“makes hitherto invisible things visible.”132
Thus, infrared employment could now go beyond the military and academic spheres of
astronomy and physics. Eastman Kodak provided the largest number and variety of infrared
materials in the United States and put out several publications informing the “amateur” on its
128
Clark, Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and Applications, 258.
Bloch, "Recent Developments in Infra-red Photography," 271.
130
Bloch, "Recent Developments in Infra-red Photography," 271.
131
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 89.
132
“Iodine: Mystery Story,” Journal of the Royal Society of the Arts 94, no. 4717 (May 10, 1946): iii.
129
29
applications. The Chemical Publishing Company published one such handbook entitled Infrared
for Everyone. H. W. Greenwood, the author, stated that “infra-red is a scientific tool which the
amateur can use with success” as long as he is well versed in its proper application.133 He noted
that “its greatest sphere of usefulness is in differentiating objects which appear alike to the
human eye,”134 a critical differentiation in art investigation.
While infrared photography publications by Eastman Kodak Company hinted at possible
art applications, the infrastructure of a museum laboratory was a primary requirement. As a
result, the widespread museum mobilization of infrared photography, spectroscopy, and
reflectography required, first and foremost, an established museum science department. Under
the precedent of infrastructure, infrared allowed for discovery below the surface, a feature valued
by professionals in disciplines ranging from the military to medicine and from astronomy to art.
INFRARED APPLIED TO ART
In 1939, Walter Clark published Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and
Applications with Kodak Research Laboratories. He stated that “the photography will be able to
apply the subject intelligently to the varied problems which present themselves.”135 Clark’s
didactic tone in his broad and grandiose overview of infrared and its origins, similar to that of
Olaf F. Bloch, once again indicated the importance of the technology. His work opened with “in
all stages of civilization man has recognized the benefits of light and heat.”136 He continued to
emphasize the importance of the foundation of science in understanding the properties of light
133
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone , 40.
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 44.
135
Clark, Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and Applications, ix.
136
Clark, Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and Applications, 1.
134
30
and that such knowledge is necessary and essential in “our interest to its close relative, the
infrared.”137
In 1941, ten years after infrared photography materials became commercially available,
literature surfaced suggesting that infrared photography be used in photographing artwork. 138 An
understanding of the chemical composition of varnishes which were often discolored and dirty
revealed that infrared photography could penetrate the material and provide insight into the
original work.139 An infrared guide from the period stated that “in general, oils, varnishes, gums
and waxes are transparent to infra-red” and suggested applying this technology to “old pictures,
antiques” and other historical items. Thus, the MFA, the British Museum, and other museum
laboratories established new areas of focus in research, examination, and detailed analysis of
paintings with infrared radiation.
Kodak’s infrared promotion also consisted of paint classification according to pigment
reactions to infrared light. This assessment divided paints into three categories based on their
appearance under infrared radiation. Specifically, water and oil-based paints can appear black,
grey, or white when exposed to infra-red photography. Colors that photograph as black include
blues and blacks which contain carbon black, iron, bronze, or ivory. Those which photograph as
grey are greens, browns, and light red iron oxides. Paints of white photographic appearance are
most commonly yellows and blues other than iron blues but also include all colors not listed in
the previous two sections.140
Infrared’s ability to clearly categorize paints according to their color and chemical
composition marks its importance in the art world. The 1941 infrared handbook noted that
137
Clark, Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and Applications, 1.
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 44.
139
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 44.
140
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 53.
138
31
“[t]here are few great galleries today which do not include equipment for infra-red
photography”.141 Infrared photography became pivotal in analyzing old masterpieces and
historical works which had been damaged or were covered in thick layers of varnish. Art
historians and conservators appreciated the technology largely because it allowed for observation
and investigation without physically touching the subject of interest. 142 Investigating a painting’s
authenticity and understanding the condition of the paintwork under the varnish are extremely
valuable in interpreting an artist’s creation process and the context in which he worked. Infrared
had the capacity to detect “forgeries and sophistications in supposed old masters.”143 It would
also reveal underlying sketches, additions to the painting, and possible damages and changes in
the painting.
Infrared photography was most widely applied to old paintings because in modern
paintings, the clarity of varnish lends most investigation to the human eye. Its concurrent use
with X-rays, microscopy, and micro-chemical analysis further enhanced the understanding of old
paintings and their artists. The 1940s recognized infrared as “a new and potent weapon to the
armoury of the art expert.”144 This active scientific integration demonstrated the art world’s
collective acknowledgement of the potential for scientific contributions. A gallery was only great
when it knew how to apply scientific techniques. However, its widespread use in museum
laboratories did not take place until after World War II which corresponded with a significant
political shift in astronomy: the rise of National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and other national and international space organizations.
141
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 53.
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 54.
143
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 54.
144
Greenwood, Infra-Red for Everyone, 54.
142
32
Subsequently, the post World War II museum period marks a second wave in the rise of the
museum laboratory and a new era of international astronomy.
JPL, NASA, AND POST WORLD WAR II MUSEUM LABORATORIES
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) began as the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory,
California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) in 1936.145 Immediately following World War II, it
was renamed Jet Propulsion Laboratory and partnered with the Amy Ordinance Corps to
research missile technology.146 In 1945, the United States launched Operation Paperclip, a
project dedicated to recruiting German engineers, collecting parts of V-2 rockets, and
understanding the German mechanisms underlying rocket guidance and navigation.147 Before
1945, American space research took place at the Naval Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins’s
Applied Physics Laboratory, General Electric, Harvard University, Princeton University,
University of Michigan, and the Signal Corp.148
In the years following this second war, the United States took a different approach by
establishing a single administrative body solely devoted to aeronautics and space. Although
President Woodrow Wilson formally created the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
(NACA) in 1915 as a World War I emergency measure,149 the Committee did not begin
experimenting with rockets and working with JPL until 1946.150 In 1958, President Dwight D.
145
Clayton R. Koppes, JPL and the American Space Program: A History of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1982), 2-3.
146
Koppes, JPL and the American Space Program: A History of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2-3.
147
Roger E. Bilstein, Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915-1990 (Washington, D. C.: National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989), 36.
148
Leverington, New Cosmic Horizons, 2.
149
Roger E. Bilstein, Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915-1990 (Washington, D. C.:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989), 4.
150
Bilstein, Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915-1990, 38-9.
33
Eisenhower renamed the Committee the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and
restructured it in order to better serve the objectives associated with the looming Space Race.151
The founding of NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory indicated that the government prioritized
the space program in funding and technological advances. The United States’ international
reputation relied on its ability to explore space, a region not yet claimed or occupied by any
nation.
Concurrently with the rise of NASA, museum laboratories increased in number, size and
scientific capacity following World War II and during the Cold War. These newer and bigger
labs surfaced internationally and were often government funded. Now that museums embraced a
foundation of science in preservation and conservation, this second wave of museum laboratories
began with efforts to protect national and international cultural heritage and expanded towards
further understanding this heritage.
During World War II, in the same spirit as World War I, museums put their collections in
storage hoping to save valuable pieces from destruction. The period was characterized by
national and international fear that states and their history would be destroyed. When the war
ended and collections were removed from storage, scientific advising for proper restoration
methods would once again ensure that pieces were cared for and displayed in a protected
environment. In 1959, the journal Studies in Conservation launched an eight-part series entitled
“Conservation Studios and Laboratories” in order to celebrate this second wave and increase
museum laboratory awareness in the art world. The final piece was published in 1967.152 The
series highlighted the evolution of eight museum laboratories, most of which were founded in
151
Bilstein, Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915-1990, 47-8.
Rolf E. Straub, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 8: The Laboratory and the Courses of Study for
Conservators at the Institut für Technologie der Malerei, Stuttgart," Studies in Conservation 12, no. 4 (Nov. 1967) :
147-157.
152
34
1945, immediately following the end of World War II. Studies in Conservation also included the
British Museum’s renovated laboratory nearly fifty years after its founding as the world’s first
museum laboratory. The British Museum’s new laboratory employed a core staff of seven
working scientists but also worked with individuals outside of the museum organization.153
In 1960, William Bousted published his piece in the series on the New South Wales Art
Gallery in Australia. The laboratory focused heavily on conservation techniques because of its
humid environment, lack of air conditioning units, and the treatment of works during the war.
The laboratory’s opening came as the result of the Japanese invasion during World War II.
Bousted noted that the “panic” involved in storing these paintings meant that many were “ripped
from their frames and piled cheek by jowl ready for instant dispatch to some remote sanctuary in
the Australian bush.”154 While these actions saved the paintings from the political threats of the
war, the resulting damage meant that conservation efforts were not only important but necessary
in restoring and displaying the works. The laboratory was centrally located in the New South
Wales Art Gallery, most likely for easy transport of paintings from display rooms to examination
tables. The photomicrography department utilized infrared and ultraviolet photography.155
Paintings were also studied in the government Health Department, further demonstrating that
conservation efforts and examination were not isolated in the museum laboratory.156
In 1945, the Swiss National Museum acted as “a nucleus for a central laboratory which
would consider the needs of other museums.”157 The museum hired a laboratory assistant in
153
Werner and Organ, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 6: The New Laboratory of the British Museum," 75.
William Bousted, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 3: The Conservation Department of the New South
Wales Art Gallery, Australia," Studies in Conservation 5, 4 (Nov. 1960): 121.
155
Bousted, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 3: The Conservation Department of the New South Wales Art
Gallery, Australia," 129.
156
Bousted, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 3: The Conservation Department of the New South Wales Art
Gallery, Australia," 130.
157
Bruno Mühlethaler, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 5: The Research Laboratory of the Swiss National
Museum at Zürich," Studies in Conservation 7, no. 2 (May 1962): 38.
154
35
order to move conservation “towards a solid scientific base” while serving the larger cultural
heritage community.158 The laboratory, headed by a chemist from the Faculty of Science of the
Federal Institute of Technology, made radio carbon dating and infrared spectroscopy accessible
to other European museums, most notably those in Germany and Italy.159 The Conservation
Laboratory of the National Museum in New Delhi, India, also featured in the series, was founded
on similar grounds. The devices in this museum were similar to those in the Swiss National
Museum and included microscopes, photo-analysis tools, and chemical examination tables and
scales.160 The museum felt that the conservation in the National Museum required a scientific
foundation and hired a chemist to lead the Laboratory in 1957.161
At the Institut fur Technologie der Malerei in Stuttgart, Germany, the laboratory’s
mission was reframed in 1949. Its physics laboratory housed some of the most advanced
examination tools which included but were not limited to an X-ray apparatus, an Infrared
viewing screen, ultraviolet and infrared photography, and a Xenon lamp for colorimetry.162 As an
independent research institution, the laboratory was not attached to a specific museum, but its
investigations on artistic materials and conservation would benefit German art museums.163 The
lab focused on the examination of important paintings, including those of Dutch artist
Rembrandt.164 The laboratory also emphasized a teaching program for picture restoration.165
158
Mühlethaler, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 5: The Research Laboratory of the Swiss National Museum
at Zürich," 35.
159
Mühlethaler, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 5: The Research Laboratory of the Swiss National Museum
at Zürich," 42.
160
O. P. Agrawal, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 7: The Conservation Laboratory of the National Museum
, New Delhi," Studies in Conservation 8, no. 3 (Aug. 1963): 99-105.
161
Agrawal, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 7: The Conservation Laboratory of the National Museum , New
Delhi," 99-105.
162
Straub, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 8,” 148.
163
Rolf E. Straub, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 8: The Laboratory and the Courses of Study for
Conservators at the Institut für Technologie der Malerei, Stuttgart," Studies in Conservation 12 , no. 4 (Nov. 1967):
147.
164
Straub, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 8,” 147.
36
In the same Studies in Conservation series, Selim Augusti highlighted the Museo e
Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy as “one of the most up-to-date museums in
the world.”166 Augusti’s laboratory opened in 1957 and was divided into three departments:
restoration, scientific analysis, and photographic recording and examination. The “Scientific
Laboratory” was further divided into physico-chemical research, microscopy, and technical
work.167 The museum was heavily equipped with monocular and binocular microscopes, usually
used in the examination of painting and artifact cracking. The lab also utilized the “microscopio
universale Galileo” for general observation of details.168 Work in the technical laboratory
consisted of varnish preparation, work that is now particularly important for the coating and
protection of newly restored or acquired paintings. What made the laboratory exceptionally “upto-date” was its “equipment for examination by special radiation” which consisted of an infrared
lamp, an ultraviolet lamp, and an X-ray apparatus.169
The Freer Gallery was the only American museum laboratory covered in the series. It is
part of the Smithsonian Institution and partners with other institutes in Washington, D.C.
Museum director Archibald G. Wenley championed the creation of the Freer Gallery Laboratory
for Technical Studies in Oriental Art and Archaeology immediately following the war and began
publishing technical findings in 1952.170 According to the laboratory’s floor plan, primary modes
of light examination involved ultra-violet and X-ray technology. The photomicrographic camera
employed infrared technology and maintained a record of each work. The laboratory also lent its
165
Straub, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 8,” 148 .
Selim Augusti, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 1: The Conservation Laboratory of the Museo e Gallerie
Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples." Studies in Conservation 4, no. 3 (Aug. 1959): 88.
167
Augusti, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 1,” 93.
168
Augusti, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 1,” 93.
169
Augusti, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 1,” 94.
170
Rutherford J. Gettens, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 2: The Freer Gallery Laboratory for Technical
Studies in Oriental Art and Archaeology," Studies in Conservation 4, no. 4 (Nov. 1959): 140.
166
37
services to the National Bureau of Standards, the Division of Mineralogy of the U.S. National
Museum, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Food and Drug Administration.171 The crossemployment of research tools and methods indicates national cooperation and that research and
investigation, with respect to materials, is interdisciplinary.
These museum laboratories illustrate that conservation and research overlap with national
and international efforts of maintaining society’s prized possessions, a commitment that expands
beyond the walls of a museum. All of these institutions prioritized, first and foremost, a
conservation foundation before implementing new investigative tools. When radiation equipment
was introduced in the late 1950s, the technology was not reserved solely for museum use. In fact,
the high cost associated with these tools meant that they were partially owned by the
government, as indicated in the case of the Freer Gallery laboratory. This state involvement and
technological expansion meant that the museum scientist now had the resources to explore
analysis beyond the preservation of paint and canvas.
Subsequently, conservators became well versed in applying chemical conservation
techniques. Chemists who formerly investigated the environmental factors that could damage
paintings and employed restoration methods were now replaced with these conservators. Where
chemistry became a fully integrated museum discipline, physics and radiation technologies were
still reserved for traditionally trained physicists. Thus, the overall goals of scientist involvement
in museums grew to include art analysis through radiation which was not associated with
conservation or preservation.172 Instead, this analysis was more geared toward further
contextualizing paintings for the art historian. They refocused their energies and began to assist
171
Gettens, "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 2,” 142.
James R. Druzik, David L. Glackin, Donald L. Lynn, and Raim Quiros, "The Use of Digital Image Processing to
Clarify the Radiography of Underpainting," Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 22, no. 1 (1982): 4956.
172
38
art historians in interpreting the artist’s story, the presence of underdrawings, and potential
forgeries.
SCIENTISTS, TECHNOLOGIES, AND ART ANALYSIS
In 1963, two Eastman Kodak sales employees published a work on the progress of
infrared luminescence in the Studies in Conservation, the same journal that published the series
on museum laboratories. The authors advertised that “the most valuable applications of infrared
luminescence photography could well be in the examination of paintings under a thick varnish”
which could not be done with ultraviolet radiation.173 Although physicists and astronomers were
fully aware of this application, art historians were not yet versed in infrared. Thus, the Studies in
Conservation article would circulate in the art world and act as an introduction and as a sales
pitch for Kodak’s Retina Reflex III Camera which uses “35mm Kodak High Speed Infrared
Film.”174
J. R. J. van Asperen de Boer was the first to investigate art using infrared reflectograms, a
recording of reflected infrared radiation.175 De Boer majored in experimental physics at the
Municipal University of Amsterdam and joined the military. He later joined the Central Research
Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science and worked as the editor of the Studies in
Conservation journal. In 1968 he published “Infrared Reflectography: a Method for the
Examination of Paintings” in Applied Optics as an introduction to improved techniques in
173
Charles F. Bridgman and H. Lou Gibson, “Infrared Luminescence in the Photographic Examination of Paintings
and Other Art Objects,” Studies in Conservation 8, no. 3 (Aug. 1963): 77.
174
Bridgman and Gibson, “Infrared Luminescence in the Photographic Examination of Paintings and Other Art
Objects,” 88.
175
Berrie, “Fine Art Examination and Conservation,” 400.
39
examining underdrawings.176 In 1969, de Boer published “Reflectography of Paintings Using an
Infrared Vidicon Television System” as a longer, more involved piece explaining the proper
application and analysis involved in using the new technology. The Vidicon was developed in
the 50s and used by NASA to scan and capture images of space in real time from their unmanned
spacecrafts.177 By 1966, de Boer applied the Vidicon system to panel paintings. The scanning
system, which was made commercially available in the mid 60s,178 allowed for images to appear
immediately on a monitor screen which would be photographed by a monitor-sensitive
camera.179 The enlarged images would then need to be assembled for full painting analyses. The
paintings were exposed to infrared radiation for a few seconds in order to avoid overheating of
the pigments, and videotape recording was used for reflectogram storage.
De Boer praised the Vidicon system for its speed, ease of operation, recording of details,
and comparatively low cost. These features were extremely valuable in the reflectography of
paintings.180 De Boer’s image samples came from the Netherlands and Belgium. Interpreting the
infrared photographs and reflectograms required reflectance formula calculations and thickness
formula calculations, both of which he outlined in the paper.181 Obtaining the physical infrared
photograph would not provide the answers, and further scientific and mathematical analysis was
particularly important in properly interpreting the reflectogram data. Thus, de Boer championed
collaboration between the Statistical Department of the Mathematical Centre in Amsterdam, the
Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science, and museums and art historians.
176
J. R. J. van Asperen de Boer, “Inrared Reflectography: a Method for the Examination of Paintings” Applied Optics
(1968): 1711.
177
Leverington, New Cosmic Horizons: Space Astronomy from the V2 to the Hubble Space Telescope, 46.
178
Elizabeth Walmsley, Catherine Metzger, John K. Delaney, and Colin Fletcher. "Improved Visualization of
Underdrawings with Solid-State Detectors Operating in the Infrared," Studies in Conservation 39, no. 4 (1994):
217.
179
J. R. J. van Asperen de Boer, “Reflectography of Paintings Using an Infrared Vidicon Television System,” Studies
in Conservation (1969): 107.
180
De Boer, “Reflectography of Paintings Using an Infrared Vidicon Television System,” 109.
181
De Boer, “Reflectography of Paintings Using an Infrared Vidicon Television System,” 107.
40
Following de Boer’s analysis, researchers at Amsterdam’s Central Research Laboratory
for Objects of Art and Science focused their energies towards infrared spectroscopy, the study of
radiated energy associated with infrared radiation.182 In 1970, Emilie Helena van‘t Hul-Ehrnreich
specialized in this study in order to obtain unambiguous results in analyzing old paintings. She
used the Perkin-Elmer microscope to investigate and assess paint spectrums. She worked at the
Physical Laboratories of the Philips Factories of Eindhoven in the Netherlands and the Technical
University of Eindhoven before joining the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art.183
Highly trained physicists and chemists who had contributed to efforts in the Cold War began
applying their skill sets to art analysis.
The Nd: YAG184 laser, a laser developed in 1964, emits infrared radiation. It was
developed at Bell Laboratories and used for distance approximations and target designation.185
Bell Laboratories researched and produced a wide range of technologies related to radio
astronomy, and astrophotography. In fact, the company is responsible for inventing the chargecoupled device (CCD) which is the foundation for digital photography and high definition space
images.186 Under the leadership of James B. Fisk, Bell Labs developed the first communications
satellite and established systems engineering for the Apollo Space Program.187 This was the peak
of the Space Race and a moment of American triumph. It also established a foundation of
182
E. H. van't Hul-Ehrnreich, "Infrared Microspectroscopy for the Analysis of Old Painting Materials," Studies in
Conservation 15, no. 3 (Aug. 1970): 181.
183
Hul-Ehrnreich, "Infrared Microspectroscopy for the Analysis of Old Painting Materials," 181.
184
Nd: YAG stands for neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet which is a crystal. The laser emits infrared light
with a wavelength of 10640 Å. See note 180.
185
“Nd: YAG laser, diode pumped YAG laser system, and green YAG Laser module,” CrystaLaser. http://www.yaglaser.us/
186
“Charge Coupled Device,” Alcatel-Lucent (2006-2012): http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/belllabs
(accessed Oct. 2012)
187
"Bell Labs Presidents: James B. Fisk, 1959-1973," Alcatel-Lucent (2006-2012) http://www.alcatellucent.com/wps/portal/belllabs
41
imaging technology and lasers that physicists would use after the race in other research
endeavors.
Dr. John Asmus was the first to apply the Nd: YAG laser to art conservation following
his involvement in Cold War research. Dr. Asmus received a Ph.D. from Caltech in Quantum
Electronics and Physics.188 He worked at the United States Naval Ordnance Laboratory, went to
Copenhagen to monitor Soviet ICBM launches and nuclear explosions during the Cold War and
then began working on Project ORION. He also discovered one of Leonardo da Vinci’s lost
paintings, the pearl necklace beneath the surface of the Mona Lisa, and new marble cleaning
methods. When asked about his transition into the art world, Dr. Asmus explained that “In my
spare time I travelled all over Europe visiting museums and developing a love for classical
art.”189 In 1968, he worked as an advisor for the Defense Department’s laser program and headed
the National Laser Program. His work in holographic laser recordings and a suggestion from a
geophysicist colleague led Asmus into the world of art conservation. He is now considered one
of the world’s leading conservation scientists.190
1972 was his first ever research project in art conservation and dealt with crumbling
Venetian marble sculptures. He received endorsements from a Nobel Prize winner in physics, the
president of American company TRW, and several scientists.191 Asmus applied what he had
learned during his work in Project ORION, specifically related to the laser frequency and
radiation that would be appropriate for certain materials. In the 1970s, NASA had trouble with
188
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
189
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
190
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
191
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
42
funding, and, after failed launches, the agency began cutting projects and partnering with
institutes in Europe in order to cut costs.192 While Asmus stated that his interest in the art world
originated with his time in Europe, other physicists working in government Cold War research
lost funding for their projects and looked for occupations that met their specialized skill set. 193
This established a model for advanced conservation work as an international, interdisciplinary,
and interdepartmental effort.
Art museums around the world began implementing radiation technologies and endorsing
physicists to perform research that would answer questions about artists and historical objects
that had never before been answerable. Universities, museum laboratories, government
institutions and even motion picture studios194 carried out and supported these projects in order
to answer questions about society and its most significant artists. All of these institutions
maintained a strong foundation in infrastructure; they all placed value in acquiring knowledge,
understanding context, and institutional pride. Throughout the 70s, art analyses and research
papers on pigment materials were published by physicists, chemists, and fine arts students all of
whom collaborated with individuals in fields outside of their own expertise.195
Joan Carpenter, a student at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, was one such
individual. In 1977 she published an analysis of artist Jasper Johns’ Flag and Target with Four
Faces. Her piece appeared in the Art Journal which is funded by the College Art Association.196
Jasper Johns, an artist known for his collage work, creates overlapping images, some of which
192
Leverington, New Cosmic Horizons: Space Astronomy from the V2 to the Hubble Space Telescope, 363-4.
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
194
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
195
R. L. Feller, B. Keisch, and M. Curran, "Notes on Modern Pigments," Bulletin of the American Group.
International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works 12, no. 1 (Oct. 1971): 62.
196
Joan Carpenter, "The Infra-Iconography of Jasper Johns," Art Journal 36, no. 3 (1977): 221.
193
43
cannot be distinguished with the naked eye. When Carpenter applied infrared radiation to the
pieces, she observed underlying aspects of the work that art historians had never considered in
their previous analyses. Carpenter’s article contains images of Johns’ works and visually
compares the “normal” photograph with the infrared photograph. This assessment revealed that
newspapers and journals were pasted below the painting. The content of these news sources
indicated the time and place of the work and Johns’ political intentions. More specifically,
Carpenter noted that Johns used articles from The Nation which focus on the New Deal and the
1930s and United States government documents below his Flag.197 Accordingly, Carpenter
demonstrated that Johns established an underlying historical and political context for his
painting.
However, not all art historians were versed in the telling features of infrared analysis. In
1976, just a year before Carpenter published on Jasper Johns, Alec Cobbe, Assistant Director at
the University of Cambridge and former restorer at the Tate Gallery, London, published a paper
which examined the process of dating paintings with canvas stamps. In the article he noted that
there was no method for determining canvas dates when the canvas is covered by relining.198 A
year later, F. Dupont Cornelius criticized Alec Cobbe’s conclusion and noted that he had yet to
explore infrared photography. Cornelius suggested purchasing “IR sensitive film” from EastmanKodak and experimenting with photographing paintings.199 He noticed that materials that appear
opaque to X-rays were transparent to IR and allowed for canvas stamp and dating of paintings
that had been relined.200 Those art critics who were largely unaware of the new technologies
197
Carpenter, "The Infra-Iconography of Jasper Johns," 225.
F. Dupont Cornelius, “Correspondence: Transmitted Infrared Photography,” Studies in Conservation 22, no. 1
(1977): 42.
199
Cornelius, “Correspondence: Transmitted Infrared Photography,” 42.
200
Cornelius, “Correspondence: Transmitted Infrared Photography,” 42.
198
44
were missing an entire set of facts and figures; their data was incomplete, and their results did
not tell the entire story. Thus, collaboration became the new norm.
Richard Newman demonstrated this interdisciplinary tendency in a piece entitled “Some
Applications of Infrared Spectroscopy in the Examination of Painting Materials” in the Journal
of the American Institute for Conservation. He collaborated with the Fogg Art Museum’s Center
for Conservation and Dr. Gregory Exarhos and Dr. Barry Nelson, both professors in the
Chemistry Department at Harvard University.201 Newman explained that computers completed
the process of identifying and classifying materials and pigments. The paper’s publication in the
Journal of the American Institute for Conservation suggests that this material understanding
would contribute to the fields of conservation and preservation.
Scientists and art conservators relied on understanding the most basic and fundamental
composition of painting materials. The discussion of carbon bonds, molecular structure, sulfate
compounds, polymorphs and ions, act as the foundation for Newman’s article. Figures and
graphs relating transmittance to wavelength are the central areas of focus. The colors and paints
that actually correspond with a specific chemical composition and degenerativity are not
identified until the second half of the 20-page report. Newman concluded that the report was
meant as “an introductory review of a few of the possible applications of the infrared
spectroscopic technique in the realm of routine characterization of painting materials.”202 It
functioned as a survey of the spectra of pigment mixtures whose composition can be difficult to
identify. This paint categorization contributed to the art historian’s repertoire of facts. It would
allow them to better determine the historical and technological context of the artist and the
painter.
201
Newman, "Some Applications of Infrared Spectroscopy in the Examination of Painting Materials," 62.
Richard Newman, "Some Applications of Infrared Spectroscopy in the Examination of Painting Materials,"
Journal of the American Institute for Cosnervation 19, no. 1 (1979): 59.
202
45
By the end of the decade, art historians were publishing art critiques that fully relied on
infrared analysis. They acknowledged that analyzing underdrawings revealed an artistic process
that was never before accessible: the evolution of a painting.203 Understanding this process,
especially in reference to old masters, has been sought after since the field’s 16th century
inception with Vesari’s Lives of the Artists. Leonardo da Vinci’s works received special attention
because of their national and historical importance and because of their fragile state. In 1979,
publications on Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper revealed that his techniques were not only
inconsistent with “classical mural techniques”204 but also that these methods most likely caused
the continued deterioration of the masterpiece. Mauro Matteini, one of the leading scholars on
the subject, was traditionally trained in chemistry at the University of Florence.205
Museum display strategies also relied on the scientific analyses of specific pieces. Alan
Donnithorne studied physics and mathematics at the University of Sheffield. When he published
“The Technical Examination and Conservation of Two Drawings Pasted Together,” he was
working in the Conservation Division of the Department of Scientific Research and Conservation
in the British Museum.206 The drawings he analyzes were acquired as pieces that were pasted
together. They were not displayed because the British Museum’s placement of works is
“arranged and stored alphabetically by artist’s surname, century by century.”207 Thus,
Donnithorne’s work was meant to remedy this “placement problem” by explaining “the technical
examination, separation, conservation and restoration of the two drawings” separately.208
203
Rona Goffen, “A 'Madonna' by Lorenzo Lotto," MFA Bulletin76 (1978): 36.
Mauro Matteini and Arcangelo Moles, "A Preliminary Investigation of the Unusual Technique of Leonardo's
Mural ‘The Last Supper,’" Studies in Conservation 24, no. 3 (1979): 131.
205
Matteini and Moles, "A Preliminary Investigation of the Unusual Technique of Leonardo's Mural ‘The Last
Supper,’" 133.
206
Alan Donnithorne, "The Technical Examination and Conservation of Two Drawings Pasted Together," Studies in
Conservation 27, no. 4 (Nov. 1982): 72.
207
Donnithorne, "The Technical Examination and Conservation of Two Drawings Pasted Together,"
208
Donnithorne, "The Technical Examination and Conservation of Two Drawings Pasted Together,"
204
46
Donnithorne detailed his use of infrared photography as a means of allowing “parts of the object
below the immediate surface to be rendered visible on film” which would reveal the materials
holding the drawings together and indicate the presence of underdrawings.209 His
acknowledgements included the Museums Association, his colleagues at the British Museum,
and experts in radiography and photography some of whom were doctors who provided technical
assistance in X-ray use.210
Traditionally trained scientists increasingly made contributions to art history as new
radiation technologies came on the market. Elizabeth Walmsley and Catherine Metzger, both
painting conservators at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, worked with chemists,
biologists, and optical scientists to publish “Improved Visualization of Underdrawings with
Solid-State Detectors Operating in the Infrared.”211 The piece compares two camera systems: the
CCD and the Vidicon. The National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C., Eastman Kodak,
technicians, and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences all contributed to the
research.212 By the end of the twentieth century, there would be few, if any, art history
publications that did not acknowledge technical collaboration.
In 1990, Duilio Bertani and six of his colleagues published “A Scanning Device for
Infrared Reflectography” in Studies in Conservation which described a new art examination
technology. The author noted that “infrared reflectography is currently a well-established
technique for the analysis of paintings.”213 Infrared was now an integrated method. Art
historians, to a certain extent, relied on this former military technology for accurate
209
Donnithorne, "The Technical Examination and Conservation of Two Drawings Pasted Together," 164.
Donnithorne, "The Technical Examination and Conservation of Two Drawings Pasted Together," 171
211
Walmsley et al., "Improved Visualization of Underdrawings with Solid-State Detectors Operating in the
Infrared," 230.
212
Walmsley et al., "Improved Visualization of Underdrawings with Solid-State Detectors Operating in the
Infrared," 230.
213
D. Bertani et al., "A Scanning Device for Infrared Reflectography," Sudies in Conservation 35, no. 3 (1990): 113.
210
47
interpretations. Bertani stated that the “IR-sensitive television system” requires no special
training and “permits an easy and immediate visualization of underdrawings and, in general, of
changes in the work of art, thus making it a powerful tool both for the art historian and for the
restorer.” Duilio Bertani is a physicist. He received a graduate degree from the University of
Milan and was working at Florence’s Instituto Nazionale di Ottica (National Institute of Optics)
when the paper was published.214 Three of his coauthors were also trained in physics at the
University of Florence and the Max Planck Institut in Munich. These individuals, traditionally
trained in the high sciences, collaborated with university art history departments, museums, and
the Studies in Conservation journal to explain the new device’s particular importance. They were
concerned with making it accessible to those responsible for truthfully interpreting history. These
collaborations would lead to some of the most telling discoveries in art history.
Andreas Burmester, another scholar on infrared reflectograms, earned degrees in organic
chemistry and mathematics before devoting four years to studying art history. He now heads the
Doerner Institut, an organization associated with the Bavarian State Painting Collections and
devoted to conservation, analysis, and research of works of art.215 The institute was founded in
1937, and its areas of focus immediately following World War II were that of conservation and
reconstruction.216 The institute did not shift its focus towards art technology until 1964 when
international and political science efforts transitioned into outer space, a widespread trend for
museums and art organizations.217
Burmester’s decision to pursue a formal degree in art history following his technical
degrees became even more common in the 1990s. Scientists in this period took on the role of art
214
D. Bertani et al., "A Scanning Device for Infrared Reflectography," Sudies in Conservation 35, no. 3 (1990): 116.
Doerner Institut, http://www.doernerinstitut.de/en/geschichte/geschichte_5.html.
216
Doerner Institut, http://www.doernerinstitut.de/en/geschichte/geschichte_5.htm.
217
Doerner Institut, http://www.doernerinstitut.de/en/geschichte/geschichte_5.html.
215
48
historian even more so than the previous decades in that they published works interpreting the
truth behind paintings and their creators. Where conservation scientists were producing chemical
papers on the composition of pigments and underdrawings, traditionally trained scientists were
analyzing art and a painting’s historical context by applying their material knowledge of nature
and the universe. The MIT Press published one such piece by Professor Stanley David
Gedzelman. Gedzelman works in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at New York’s
City College.218 While he teaches meteorology and atmospheric optics he has also examines the
manner in which artists paint the sky and weather. His analyses reveal the potential shifts in the
atmosphere and significant meteorological events that were recorded artistically before proper
photography existed.
Gedzelman’s “The Meteorological Odyssey of Vincent van Gogh,” reveals the scientific
aspects of van Gogh’s paintings. Gedzelman’s 1990 analysis of Vincent van Gogh’s works,
especially the Starry Night indicate that van Gogh’s paintings were more an accurate depiction of
the nighttime sky than a hallucination. In fact studies of the Starry Night reveal that van Gogh’s
sky resembles the Whirlpool Nebula.219 Astronomers could accurately distinguish aspects of the
universe in his painting. While many artists were creating skies that contained “flagrant
violations of the laws of nature,” van Gogh made the sky’s natural elements identifiable and, to a
certain extent, truthful.220 J. Patrick Harrington, Professor of Astronomy at the University of
Maryland and astrophysicist, provided a paper similar to that of Professor Gedzelman’s. He
analyzed the works of Charles E. Burchfield an early 20th century American artist whose
218
Stanley David Gedzelman, "The Meteorological Odyssey of Vincent van Gogh," Leonardo 23, no. 1 (1990): 109.
Gedzelman, "The Meteorological Odyssey of Vincent van Gogh," 109.
220
Gedzelman, "The Meteorological Odyssey of Vincent van Gogh," 109.
219
49
paintings contain astronomical objects and often portray accurate positions of the Moon, Jupiter,
and Saturn.221
The scientist as an art historian gained popular recognition in 1992 when Dr. John
Asmus, Cold War scientist and laser conservationist, completed a comprehensive analysis of the
Mona Lisa. His work ushered in an unprecedented level of international collaboration in art. The
project to “clarify” one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous works began when Carlo Pedretti,
art historian at UCLA, and Lord Kenneth Clark, British art historian and museum director,
learned of new techniques in computer image processing. When CBS News anchorman Walter
Cronkite222 interviewed Asmus on the subject of art conservation and learned of the project,
Asmus gained an endorsement and additional funding from CBS News.223 Asmus’s connection
to JPL and technical institutions contributed to the project’s momentum. The investigation
revealed that Leonardo drafted the piece with a necklace around the subject’s neck and a river
and bridge in the background.224 This discovery not only shed light upon Leonardo’s process but
also revealed that the mysterious woman was likely Costanza d’Avalos, Duchess of Francavilla.
Asmus’s research mobilized technical and museum institutions toward a common goal. His
investigative efforts acted as a model for the future of art history and science.
In 1995, Asmus would lead the first conference on Lasers in the Conservation of
Artworks (LACONA) in Crete, Greece. The goal of the LACONA was to “provide an
opportunity for scientists from universities and research laboratories to meet and especially for
221
J. Patrick Harrington, "The Moon, The Stars, and The Artist: Astronomy in the Works of Charles E. Burchfield,"
American Art Journal 22, no. 2 (1990): 57.
222
Walter Cronkite was considered as the “most trusted man in America.” He covered some of the world’s most
pivotal events ranging from World War II to the U.S. space program.
223
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
224
John Asmus, interview by Rui Bordalo, John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
50
restorers, art historians and laser manufacturers to present and discuss new results concerning the
application of laser technology in the restoration of artworks.”225 Since this initial meeting,
professors, scientists, and the art industry have supported this “close cooperation between
scientists and restorers” in order to drive the future of the field.
LACONA AND INTERNATIONAL ART NETWORKS
In 2003, Osnabrück, Germany hosted the 5th LACONA Conference (LACONA V), and
in September 2011, LACONA IX took place in London with a focus on “the application of lasers
to the treatment and analysis of cultural heritage.”226 Dr. Asmus continues to play a key role in
leading and organizing the conferences. Participation in the conference and the publication of the
conference’s proceedings indicates the priorities of transparency and access with respect to this
subject. Where exclusivity and isolation characterized early nineteenth century art history, the
field of the twenty-first century has evolved to embrace an international and interdisciplinary
effort. The conference demonstrates this shift and a subsequent rise in art, science, and
technology networks. LACONA V highlighted four of these networked institutions: the EuregioCenter of Expertise for Art Conservation Technology, COST G7, Project OPTOCANTIERI, and
the Spanish Thematic Network on Cultural Heritage. The Euregio-Center of Expertise for Art
Conservation Technology received funding from the European Union and partnered with the
University of Münster’s Department of Biophysics and commercial technology companies to
develop new techniques and acquire knowledge in art preservation.
225
K. Dickmann, C. Fotakis, and J. F. Asmus (eds.). "Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks: LACONA V
Proceedings," Springer Proceedings in Physics (Osnabrueck, Germany: Springer, September 15-18, 2003): v.
226
LACONA IX, http://www.lacona9.org/
51
COST G7 involved the participation of 27 countries to achieve the “acute necessity of
harmonization of the activities between scientists and restorers.”227 COST G7 led to the
formation of ISAAC, the Innovative Science Application for Cultural Heritage, which is an open
network that “covers an important gap in the European cultural landscape.”228 The Spanish
Thematic Network on Cultural Heritage launched a similar project in Spain with 21 research
groups and 16 institutes.229 Project OPTOCANTIERI’s ultimate goal of distributing methods
from the Institute of Applied Physics to professional end-users in the restoration industry
illustrates the industry’s ambitions toward accessible innovation.230
American art research institutes also launched network projects and championed making
resources publicly available. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the first American museum to
house a scientific laboratory, launched a project entitled CAMEO, Conservation and Art
Materials Encyclopedia Online, in 2000.231 The project is a free web based resource on the
materials and technologies used in conservation and preservation. The database contains tens of
thousands of records and entries for professionals and amateurs alike. In a similar spirit, the
Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) compiles international conservation literature on preservation
and conservation and makes them publicly available. The GCI is one of the leading institutions
in researching new methods for art conservation and analysis. Its mission consists of “the
227
R. Radvan, “COST G7 Action Creates a Durable Instrument for Advanced Research Implementation in Artwork
Conservation by Laser,” in "Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks: LACONA V Proceedings," Springer Proceedings
in Physics (Osnabrueck, Germany: Springer, September 15-18, 2003), 381.
228
Radvan, “COST G7 Action Creates a Durable Instrument for Advanced Research Implementation in Artwork
Conservation by Laser,” 387.
229
M. Castillejo, M.T. Blanco, and C. Sáiz-Jiménez, “Spanish Thematic Network on Cultural Heritage,” in "Lasers in
the Conservation of Artworks: LACONA V Proceedings," Springer Proceedings in Physics (Osnabrueck, Germany:
Springer, September 15-18, 2003), 395.
230
R. Salimbeni, R. Pini, and S. Siano, “The Project OPTOCANTIERI: A Synergy between Laser Techniques and
Information Science for Arts Conservation,” in "Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks: LACONA V Proceedings,"
Springer Proceedings in Physics (Osnabrueck, Germany: Springer, September 15-18, 2003), 389.
231
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, CAMEO: Conservation & Art Material Encyclopedia Online, 2012,
http://cameo.mfa.org/index.asp (accessed October 2012).
52
creation and dissemination of knowledge that will benefit the professionals and organizations
responsible for the conservation of the world's cultural heritage.”232 John Asmus has worked
with the GCI and contributed to its objectives in technical art history.
This focus on public access and information dissemination also characterizes twenty-first
century astronomy. Where world renowned museums including the Louvre, The National
Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, share a
mission of “establishing, preserving, and documenting” collections of artwork,233 the
International Astronomical Union has the same objective in the context of the universe.
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION AND ART
“The International Astronomical Union (IAU) was founded in 1919. Its mission is to
“promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international
cooperation.”234 In 2009, the IAU launched the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) in order
to celebrate the Union’s 90 year anniversary. The project began with the IAU partnering with 19
other organizations including the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), the
European Space Agency (ESA), and the Swiss Academy of Sciences. This international alliance
would “help people rediscover their place in the Universe through the sky, and thereby engage a
personal sense of wonder and discovery.”235
This public mission is precisely what scientists have strived towards for centuries. It is
the foundation of scientific revolutions, the catalyst behind technological progress, and the
232
D. Bertani et al., "A Scanning Device for Infrared Reflectography," Sudies in Conservation 35, no. 3 (1990), 116.
About MoMA, http://www.moma.org/about/index
234
Catherine Cesarsky, International Year of Astronomy 2009. ThalesAlenia Space:
http://www.astronomy2009.org, 2009, 4.
235
Catherine Cesarsky, International Year of Astronomy 2009. ThalesAlenia Space:
http://www.astronomy2009.org, 2009, 5.
233
53
mindset of individuals looking for universal truths. This “rediscovery” is not specific to an
individual discipline. In fact, the public endorsement of this introspective exploration illustrates
that it is one of humanity’s intellectual characteristics. The International Year of Astronomy
demonstrates this convergence in approach which has come full circle since Giotto’s portrayal of
Halley’s Comet at the turn of the fourteenth century. The IYA organized several initiatives with
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to achieve
eight core goals: awareness, access, collaboration, education, appreciation, networking, equality,
and preservation of “our global cultural and natural heritage of dark skies and historical
astronomical sites.”236 The IYA’s “Dark Skies Awareness” mission aims to “preserve and protect
dark night skies in places such as urban cultural landscapes…to support the goals of UNESCO’s
thematic initiative.”237 Another initiative entitled “Astronomy and World Heritage: Universal
treasures,” hopes to “establish a link between science and culture” and act as a method for
preserving and conserving elements of astronomy that are prone to deterioration.
The World at Night (TWAN), another IYA project, epitomizes the contemporary link
between astronomy and art. The initiative aims to create a collection of photographs and videos
showcasing historical sites and monuments against a backdrop of the night sky. 238 The universal
nature of astronomy drives this project in that the sky and the universe are not tied to nations.
The partnership between photographers and astronomers to create a collection of culturally and
scientifically significant works is beyond what an exclusively academic or artistic discipline
could achieve independently. Dennis Di Ciccio, a project contributor, is traditionally trained as a
236
Catherine Cesarsky, International Year of Astronomy 2009. ThalesAlenia Space:
http://www.astronomy2009.org, 2009, 5.
237
Catherine Cesarsky, International Year of Astronomy 2009. ThalesAlenia Space:
http://www.astronomy2009.org, 2009, 18.
238
Babak Tafreshi, “The World at Night: One people, one sky,” International Year of Astronomy 2009, 2009, 24
(www.twanight.org).
54
mechanical engineer. He works as a telescope maker, astrophotographer, and observer. 239 His
photographs are recognized as pieces of art because they convey the sky in a way that
astronomers and photographers have strived toward for centuries, a way that captures the sky’s
truth.
Wally Pacholka, a world renowned astrophotographer and contributor to the IYA TWAN
project, is recognized for the same achievement. He is a member of the Royal Astronomical
Society of Canada and identifies himself as an artist. According to Pacholka, the methods and
skill sets involved in research are universal. His images have received equal recognition in the
artistic discipline of photography as they have in the scientific discipline of astronomy. TIME
and LIFE praised his images and awarded his “Heavenly Comet and Earthly Fingers,” a
photograph of the Hale Bopp comet taken at Joshua Tree National Park in California, “Picture of
the Year” in 1997.240 NASA has recognized more than 20 of his images as “Astronomy Picture
of the Day” and has used several of his pieces of “art” as official astronomical records.241
CONCLUSION
The IYA and the initiatives outlined at the LACONA conferences demonstrate the
convergence of art and science. Specific institutional exclusivity as established by the Royal
Society in the seventeenth century and by museums in the eighteenth century largely disappeared
when the organizations realized that external input would not only preserve their discipline but
also move them forward in their ultimate goals. Nations have recognized this scientific authority
for centuries; art museums recognized this authority only after their cultural objects were at risk.
239
Babak Tafreshi, “The World at Night: One people, one sky,” International Year of Astronomy 2009, 2009, 24
(www.twanight.org).
240
"The Top Science." Time 150, no. 27 (Dec. 29, 1997): 160-161.
241
Brett Johnson, "About Wally Pacholka." AstroPics.com. http://www.astropics.com/About-Wally-Pacholka.html
55
In 1853, the National Gallery realized that their collection needed protection from
London’s contaminated air. During World War I and World War II, museum collections needed
protection from international geopolitical threats. After World War II, governments established
agencies like NASA which were oriented towards progress, an orientation that would ultimately
define a nation’s international authority. These bodies would come together to pursue
international progress. In the context of art and science, international progress merged with
precautionary preservation and conservation strategies. The history of a subject, whether a
painting or the universe, has the potential to predict that subject’s future.
Today, preventative research measures ensure that cultural heritage centers properly
protect their works, but the application is no longer driven by risk and fear of destruction. Instead
it is driven by a focus on discovery. In 2003, an art historian and physicist worked together to
discover Édouard Manet’s Infanta Maria Margarita which was initially identified as a Diego
Velázquez work. They uncovered a painting’s real identity. Art and science are different.
However, the fields express complementary dimensions of the human experience. Scientists are
characterized by a particular and unique interest in art as a quest for truth. An astronomer’s
discovery of the electromagnetic spectrum’s invisible light and a physicist’s discovery of a
painting’s formerly invisible necklace were both groundbreaking. They created a new reference
point in science and art, respectively, and established standards that never before existed.
56
Notes
"About the Building." The National Gallery. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/history/aboutthe-building/ (accessed October 2012).
Agrawal, O. P. "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 7: The Conservation Laboratory of the National
Museum , New Delhi." Studies in Conservation 8, no. 3 (Aug. 1963): 99-105.
Asmus, J.F. "Mona Lisa Symbolism Uncovered by Computer Processing." Materials Characterization
29, (1992): 119-128.
Asmus, John F. "More Light for Art Conservation." IEEE Circuts and Devices Magazine, (1986): 7-15.
Asmus, John F. "Non-divestment laser applications in art conservation." Journal of Cultural Heritage 4,
(2003): 289-293.
Asmus, John, interview by Rui Bordalo. John Asmus: from Lasers to Art Conservation (January 2008):
http://www.e-conservationline.com/%20http://www.econservationline.com/content/view/598/176/
Auerbach, Jeffrey A. The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1999.
Augusti, Selim. "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 1: The Conservation Laboratory of the Museo e
Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples." Studies in Conservation 4, no. 3 (Aug. 1959) : 8895.
Baer, Norbert S., and Manfred J.D. Low. "Advances in scientific instrumentation for conservation: an
overview." In Science and Technology in the Service of Conservation, by eds. N.S. Brommelle
and Garry Thomson, 1-5. London: The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and
Artistic Works, 1982.
Barr, E. Scott. "The Infrared Pioneers--I. Sir William Herschel." Infrared Physics 1, (1961): 1-4.
"Bell Labs Presidents: James B. Fisk, 1959-1973." Alcatel - Lucent. 2006-2012. http://www.alcatellucent.com/wps/portal/belllabs (accessed October 2012).
Berrie, Barbara H. "Fine Art Examination and Conservation." Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology 11,
(2000) : 397-423.
Bertani, D., et al. "A Scanning Device for Infrared Reflectography." Sudies in Conservation 35, no. 3
(1990) : 113-116.
57
Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915-1990. Washington,
D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Management, 1989.
Bloch, Olaf F. "Recent Developments in Infra-red Photography." Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
81, no. 4185 (Feb. 3, 1933): 261-275.
Boime, Albert, and Alexander Kossolapov. "Manet's Lost Infanta." Journal of the American Institute for
Conservation 42, no. 3 (2003): 407-418.
Bousted, William. "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 3: The Conservation Department of the New
South Wales Art Gallery, Australia." Studies in Conservation 5, no. 4 (Nov. 1960): 121-131.
Bowler, Peter J., and Iwan Rhys Morus. Making Modern Science: A Historical Survey. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Bridgman, Charles F. and H. Lou Gibson. “Infrared Luminescence in the Photographic Examination of
Paintings and Other Art Objects.” Studies in Conservation 8, no. 3 (Aug. 1963): 77-88.
Brommelle, Norman. "Material for a History of Conservation. The 1850 and 1853 Reports on the
National Gallery." Studies in Conservation 2, no. 4 (Oct. 1956) : 176-188.
Burmester, A., and F. Bayerer. "Towards Improved Infrared Reflectograms." Studies in Conservation
38, no. 3 (Aug. 1993): 145-154.
Carpenter, Joan. "The Infra-Iconography of Jasper Johns." Art Journal 36, no. 3 (1977) : 221-227.
Casini, Andrea, Franco Lotti, Marcello Picollo, Lorenzo Stefani, and Ezio Buzzegoli. "Image
Spectroscopy Mapping Technique for Non-Invasive Analysis of Paintings." Studies in
Conservation 44, no. 1 (1999): 39-48.
Cesarsky, Catherine. International Year of Astronomy 2009. ThalesAlenia Space:
http://www.astronomy2009.org, 2009.
Clark, Walter. Photography by Infrared: Its Principles and Applications. New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 1939.
Cornelius, F. Dupont. "Transmitted Infrared Photography." Studies in Conservation 22, no. 1 (1977) :
42-44.
de Boer, J. R. J. Van Asperen. "A Note on the Use of an Improved Infrared Vidicon for Reflectography
of Paintings." Studies in Conservation 19, no. 2 (1974): 97-99.
de Boer, J. R. J. van Asperen. "Infrared Reflectography: a Method for the Examination of Paintings."
Applied Optics 7, no. 9 (1968) : 1711-1714.
58
de Boer, J. R. J. van Asperen. "Reflectography of Paintings Using an Infrared Vidicon Television
System." Studies in Conservation 14, no. 3 (1969): 96-118.
de Boer, J.R.J. van Asperen. "Science in the Service of Art History." In Science in the Service of Art
History, by eds. John Shearman and Marcia B. Hall, 3-6. Oxford: Princeton University Press,
1990.
Derrick, Michele R., Dusan Stulik, and James M. Landry. Infrared Spectroscopy in Conservation
Science. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1999.
Dickmann, K., C. Fotakis, and J. F. Asmus (eds.). "Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks: LACONA
V Proceedings." Springer Proceedings in Physics. Osnabrueck, Germany: Springer, September
15-18, 2003. 1-525.
Doerner Institute. http://www.doernerinstitut.de/en/geschichte/geschichte_5.html.
Donnithorne, Alan. "The Technical Examination and Conservation of Two Drawings Pasted Together."
Studies in Conservation 27, no. 4 (Nov. 1982): 161-172.
Druzik, James R., David L. Glackin, Donald L. Lynn, and Raim Quiros. "The Use of Digital Image
Processing to Clarify the Radiography of Underpainting." Journal of the American Institute for
Conservation 22, no. 1 (1982): 49-56.
Edwards, Steve eds. Art and its Histories: A Reader. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.
Feller, R. L., B. Keisch, and M. Curran. "Notes on Modern Pigments." Bulletin of the American Group.
International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works 12, no. 1 (Oct. 1971): 6062.
Gedzelman, Stanley David. "The Meteorological Odyssey of Vincent van Gogh." Leonardo 23, no. 1
(1990): 107-116.
Gettens, Rutherford J. "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 2: The Freer Gallery Laboratory for
Technical Studies in Oriental Art and Archaeology." Studies in Conservation 4, no. 4 (Nov.
1959): 140-145.
Gilberg, Mark. "Friedrich Rathgen: The Father of Modern Archaelogical Conservation." Journal of the
American Institute for Conservation 26, no. 2 (1987): 105-120.
Goffen, Rona. "A 'Madonna' by Lorenzo Lotto." MFA Bulletin 76, (1978): 34-41.
Greenwood, H. W. Infra-Red for Everyone. New York: The Chemical Publishing Company, 1941.
Greig, James. "The Forger and the Detective." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 51, no. 293
(1927): 102.
59
Hamilton, James. Faraday: The Life. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002.
Harrington, J. Patrick. "The Moon, The Stars, and The Artist: Astronomy in the Works of Charles E.
Burchfield." American Art Journal 22, no. 2 (1990): 33-59.
Herschel, William. “Experiments on the Solar, and on the Terrestrial Rays that Occasion Heat: With a
Comparative View of the Laws to Which Light and Heat, or Rather the Rays Which Occasion
Them, are Subject, in Order to Determine Whether they are the Same, or Different. Part II.”
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 90 (1800): 437-538.
Hughes, D. W., K. K. C. Yau, and F. R. Stephenson. "Giotto's Comet--was it the Comet of 1304 and not
Comet Halley?" Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 34, (1992): 21-32.
Hul-Ehrnreich, E. H. van't. "Infrared Microspectroscopy for the Analysis of Old Painting Materials."
Studies in Conservation 15, no. 3 (Aug. 1970): 175-182.
"Iodine: Mystery Story." Journal of the Royal Society of the Arts 94, no. 4717 (May 10, 1946): iii.
Ivins, Willaim M., Jr. "Italian Renaissance Prints." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 18, no. 6
(1923): 146-150.
Johnson, Brett. "About Wally Pacholka." AstroPics.com. http://www.astropics.com/About-WallyPacholka.html (accessed October 2012).
Koppes, Clayton R. JPL and the American Space Program: A History of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982.
LACONA IX. http://www.lacona9.org/
Laurie, A. P., A. L. Nicholson, and Hugh Blaker. "The Identification of Forged Pictures." The
Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 50, no. 291 (1927): 342-4.
Leverington, David. New Cosmic Horizons: Space Astronomy from the V2 to the Hubble Space
Telescope. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Matteini, Mauro, and Arcangelo Moles. "A Preliminary Investigation of the Unusual Technique of
Leonardo's Mural 'The Last Supper'." Studies in Conservation 24, no. 3 (1979): 125-133.
McBride, Douglas Brent. "Modernism and the Museum Revisited." The German Critique, no. 99 (Fall
2006): 209-233.
McKean, John. "Joseph Paxton: Crystal Palace London 1851." In Lost Masterpieces, by John McKean,
Stuart Durant and Steve Parissien. London: Phaidon, 1999.
Mees, C. E. Kenneth. From Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film: A Story of Photographic Research.
Rochester, New York: Eastman Kodak Company, 1961.
60
"Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society." Astronomical register 14 (1876): 79-92.
Merrill, Paul W. "Progress in Photography Resulting from the War." Publications of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific 32, no. 185 (1920): 16-26.
Mühlethaler, Bruno. "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 5: The Research Laboratory of the Swiss
National Museum at Zürich." Studies in Conservation 7, no. 2 (May 1962): 35-42.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. CAMEO: Conservation & Art Material Encyclopedia Online. 2012.
http://cameo.mfa.org/index.asp (accessed October 2012).
"The Art and Science of Museum Conservation." In MFA Highlights: Conservation and Care of
Museum Collections, by Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 13-22. Boston: MFA Publications, 2011.
Nadolny, Jilleen. "The first century of published scientific analyses of the materials of historical painting
and polychromy, circa 1780-1880." Reviews in Conservation, (2003): 39-51.
“Nd: YAG laser, diode pumped YAG laser system, and green YAG Laser module.” CrystaLaser. http://www.yaglaser.us/
Newman, Richard. "Some Applications of Infrared Spectroscopy in the Examination of Painting
Materials." Journal of the American Institute for Cosnervation 19, no. 1 (1979): 42-62.
Olson, R. J. M., and J. M. Pasachoff. "Comets, meteors, and eclipses: Art and science in early
Renaissance Italy." Meteoritics & Planetary Science 37 (2002): 1563-1578.
Olson, Roberta J.M. "Much Ado About Giotto's Comet." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical
Society 35 (1993): 145-148.
Peterson, Ivars. "Paint by Digit." Science News 122, no. 20 (1982) : 314-315.
Pettenkofer, Max von. The Value of Health to a City: Two Lectures Delivered in 1873. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins Press, 1941.
Randall, H. M. "Infra-red Spectroscopy." Science 65, no. 1677 (Feb. 18, 1927): 167-173.
Rathgen, Friedrich. The Preservation of Antiquities: A Handbook for Curators. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1905.
Ruskin, John. Modern Painters. Of Many Things . New York: John Wiley, 1863 Vol 3.
"Scientific Examination of Old Masters." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 60 (May 1932) :
261.
Siegl, Theodor. "Conservation." Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 62, no. 291 (1966): 129-156.
Sime, James. Herschel and his Work. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1900.
61
Spronk, Ron. "More than Meets the Eye: An Introduction to Technical Examination of Early
Netherlandish Paintings at the Fogg Art Museum." Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin
(1996): 6-64.
Stork, David G. "Imaging Technology Enhances the Study of Art." Vision Systems Design 12 (2007) .
Straub, Rolf E. "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 8: The Laboratory and the Courses of Study for
Conservators at the Institut für Technologie der Malerei, Stuttgart." Studies in Conservation 12,
no. 4 (Nov. 1967) : 147-157.
Sullivan, Walter. "Space-Age Methods Explore Art of the Past." New York Times, June 17, 1986: C1.
Tafreshi, Babak. "The World at Night: One people, one sky." International Year of Astronomy 2009,
2009: 24 (www.twanight.org).
Taylor, Joshua C. "The Art Museum in the United States." In On Understanding Art Museums, by
Columbia University The American Assembly, 34-67. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1975.
"The Top Science." Time 150, no. 27 (Dec. 29, 1997) : 160-161.
Turner, Frank M. "Public Science in Britain, 1880-1919." Isis 71, no. 4 (1980): 589-608.
Venn, Diggory. "The Hidden Museum: An Account of the Services of the Staff of the Museum of Fine
Arts." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 62, no. 327 (1964): 3-36.
Walmsley, Elizabeth, Catherine Metzger, John K. Delaney, and Colin Fletcher. "Improved Visualization
of Underdrawings with Solid-State Detectors Operating in the Infrared." Studies in Conservation
39, no. 4 (1994): 217-231.
Werner, A. E., and R. M. Organ. "Conservation Studios and Laboratories 6: The New Laboratory of the
British Museum." Sudies in Conservation 7, no. 3 (1962) : 75-87.
"Wratten Panchromatic Plates." Kodak Limited (Wratten Division), 1918.
Wright, W. H. "Photographs of Mars Made with Light of Different Colors." Publications of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific 36, no. 213 (1924): 239-254.