Automatic Thread-Level Canvas Analysis: A machine-learning approach to analyzing the canvas of paintings

Maaten, Laurens van der; Erdmann, Robert G.

doi:10.1109/msp.2015.2407091

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The canvas weave pattern in the X-radiograph digital images was analysed using an updated algorithm to the one previously developed by Van der Maaten and Erdmann [9]. To perform thread-level canvas analysis, the algorithm identifies the trajectories of each of the individual threads in the X-radiograph (digitised at a spatial resolution of 42.3 μm/pixel).…”

Section: Computer-assisted Thread-level Canvas Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing the painterly technique beneath the surface of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring using macro- and microscale imaging

Vandivere¹,

Loon

Dooley

et al. 2019

Herit Sci

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The initial steps that Johannes Vermeer took to create Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665) are, partially or completely, hidden beneath the painted surface. Vermeer's painting technique involved applying underlayers that vary in colour and thickness, on top of which he applied the upper paint layer(s). To investigate the painting's genesis, the Girl was examined using non-invasive scientific imaging as part of the project The Girl in the Spotlight (2018). This was complemented by the re-examination of existing paint cross-sections using microscopic analytical techniques, including focused ion beam-scanning transmission electron microscopy (FIB-STEM). The weave of the canvas, visible in the X-radiograph, was examined using a new computer-assisted thread-level canvas analysis algorithm to measure the thread spacing and thread angles. The canvas was primed with a warm light grey ground, although probably not by Vermeer himself. The tinted ground provided neutral base tone upon which he began to lay in areas of light and shade in his composition, and some outlines around the figure. Multispectral infrared reflectography( MS-IRR) images in four spectral bands spanning the spectral range from 900 to 2500 nm were collected of the painting at high spatial resolution (50 µm/pixel). Visible 3D digital microscopy visualised the underlayers where Vermeer left them visible around the perimeter of the figure as a contour, and where the upper paint layers are thin. These infrared reflectograms and visible micrographs identified three distinct preparatory phases of Girl with a Pearl Earring: the ground, fine black outlines, and underlayers. Some pentimenti were also detected, including a change in the position of her ear. The combination of examination methods showed that the materials beneath the surface played an important role in establishing the three-dimensional space, fall of light, and the eventual colour in different areas of the painting.

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Section: Computer-assisted Thread-level Canvas Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing the painterly technique beneath the surface of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring using macro- and microscale imaging

Vandivere¹,

Loon

Dooley

et al. 2019

Herit Sci

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show abstract

“…7a). The introduction of machine learning to classify the traces could improve the performance of the algorithm and even avoid the engagement of the user, 41 but at the expense of a lack of simplicity. Indeed, a basic knowledge of machine learning mechanisms would be required and portions of the few IRR images should be used to train the machine.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behind the Scene of “The Holy Family with St. Anne and the Young St. John” by Bernardino Luini: A Computer-Assisted Method to Unveil the Underdrawings

et al. 2020

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“…Until a few years ago, art experts used X-rays to analyze only the composition of the visible and hidden paint layers on the canvas. More recently, however, researchers have realized that the threads pattern may carry also important art-historical information [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other recent research has explored techniques that are more sophisticated, such as autocorrelation and pattern recognition algorithms [18], synchrosqueezed transforms [6] or machine learning models [7]. They try to develop maps of thread patterns that are more detailed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the power spectral density applied to the analysis of old canvases

Simois

Murillo-Fuentes

2018

Signal Processing

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A routine task for art historians is painting diagnostics, such as dating or attribution. Signal processing of the X-ray image of a canvas provides useful information about its fabric. However, previous methods may fail when very old and deteriorated artworks or simply canvases of small size are studied. We present a new framework to analyze and further characterize the paintings from their radiographs. First, we start from a general analysis of lattices and provide new unifying results about the theoretical spectra of weaves. Then, we use these results to infer the main structure of the fabric, like the type of weave and the thread densities. We propose a practical estimation of these theoretical results from paintings with the averaged power spectral density (PSD), which provides a more robust tool. Furthermore, we found that the PSD provides a fingerprint that characterizes the whole canvas. We search and discuss some distinctive features we may find in that fingerprint. We apply these results to several masterpieces of the 17th and 18th centuries from the Museo Nacional del Prado to show that this approach yields accurate results in thread counting and is very useful for paintings comparison, even in situations where previous methods fail.

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Automatic Thread-Level Canvas Analysis: A machine-learning approach to analyzing the canvas of paintings

Cited by 18 publications

References 12 publications

Revealing the painterly technique beneath the surface of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring using macro- and microscale imaging

Revealing the painterly technique beneath the surface of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring using macro- and microscale imaging

Behind the Scene of “The Holy Family with St. Anne and the Young St. John” by Bernardino Luini: A Computer-Assisted Method to Unveil the Underdrawings

On the power spectral density applied to the analysis of old canvases

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