REFLECTANCE HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING FOR ART CONSERVATION SCIENCE
A summary of the course
Objectives
- To learn the basics of the reflectance hyperspectral imaging: limits and potential of the technique in the art conservation field
- To understand the features of the "image-cube": how to exploit the spatial and spectral information in the data set
- To be aware of possible image processing tools: how to document the artists' technique and materials
- To integrate the hyperspectral imaging data with other analytical and diagnostic techniques
Description
Since the 2000s, the use of reflectance hyperspectral imaging in the art conservation field has become progressively more extensive. Initially developed for remotely observing the earth, this methodology proved to have a great potential to study the artists’ materials and their distribution on polychrome surfaces. Besides being a non-invasive technique, reflectance hyperspectral imaging allows to collect both spatial and spectral information: a sequence of hundreds images in the visible (400-750 nm) and near-infrared (750-2500 nm) regions is acquired; furthermore, each spatial pixel in the image is associated to a reflectance spectrum. The possibility to apply different image-processing algorithms for the reduction of the data set size will be illustrated by real case studies. Finally, the integration of reflectance hyperspectral imaging with other analytical techniques and research tools will be faced. The course is addressed to professionals such as conservators, curators and art historians and it is aimed at acquiring knowledge on the technique potential and its applications in the conservation field.
Course structure
Lecturers
Marcello Picollo
Graduate in Geology at the University of Florence, with PhD in Photonics (thesis title: “Study of artworks by using non-invasive UV-VIS-IR spectroscopic and thz-TDS imaging techniques”) at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Joensuu (Finland), has been a researcher at IFAC-CNR since 2001. Since 1991 he has been working in the study of works of art using spectroscopic techniques. In particular, he deals with the analysis of artistic materials, such as pigments and dyes, using specific spectroscopic techniques and non-invasive areas. Since 2009 he has been responsible for the SABeC Research Group Spectroscopy Applied to Cultural Heritage.
Paola Buscaglia
Paola Buscaglia is a Conservator certified by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, specializing in artworks painted on organic supports. After working as a Conservator in various laboratories and as a free-lancer (1998-2006), in 2007 she was appointed full-time Conservator at CCR, working on research, teaching, and project management; in 2019 she became Coordinator of the Wooden Sculptures Conservation Lab, whose activity also involves the conservation and study of painted Egyptian artifacts. She deals in particular with integrated studies and research projects, and over the years has developed fruitful partnerships with several research institutions. In order to support her conservation-related efforts, she has acquired specific skills for the study of material deterioration mechanisms and for the planning of experimental activities on mock-up samples. In 2021, she has undertaken a Ph.D. program in Metrology at the Politecnico of Turin, Department of Applied Science and Technology, focusing on the development of highly specialized tools for the monitoring of conservation treatments.
Elena D’Elia
Elena D’Elia is a conservator trained in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the University of Turin, specialized in the restoration of paintings on wood and canvas. In 2018 she obtained her master’s degree with a thesis entitled “Two panel paintings by Marco d’Oggiono from the Pinacoteca di Brera: conservation as an opportunity for an interdisciplinary insight and new knowledge” and she had the opportunity to collaborate with various scholars and relevant international institutions, including, in the scientific field, the IFAC-CNR of Florence, the LANDIS laboratory of the IBAM-CNR and the INFN-LNS of Catania and, for the historical-artistic research, the Department of 16th century Italian painting of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, with the support of the C2RMF. The interdisciplinary nature of the thesis led her to participate in the conference of the Pinacoteca di Brera dedicated to the Leonardeschi in 2019 and, in the same year, in Technart (Bruges, BE) and to publish both in Microchemical Journal and in Arte Lombarda (2020). Besides her professional activities as a conservator, she is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in History of Art (UniTo).
