Inexpensive, Near-Infrared Imaging of Artwork Using a Night-Vision Webcam for Chemistry-of-Art Courses

Abstract

Imaging of artwork is an important aspect of art conservation, technical art history, and art authentication. Many forms of near-infrared (NIR) imaging are used by conservators, archaeologists, forensic scientists, and technical art historians to examine the underdrawings of paintings, to detect damages and restorations, to enhance faded or overpainted inscriptions, to study artists' techniques, to examine questioned documents, and as a nondestructive analytical tool for identifying certain pigments. The spectroscopic principles underlying the NIR imaging of artwork offer a powerful and engaging teaching opportunity for educators offering a chemistry-of-art course. This article introduces an inexpensive imaging system based on a night-vision webcam. The low cost of the total system (less than $20) could allow every student in a science course to use a NIR imaging camera. Examples are given to show the many techniques of NIR imaging that are important in the fields of art conservation and technical art history. Furthermore, additional spectroscopic experiments exploring the diffuse reflection spectra of traditional pigments in the visible and NIR regions are recommended to help explain the numerous interaction phenomena responsible for the NIR images of artwork and other objects and the occasionally bewildering images acquired outside the familiar visible spectrum.

Investigation of craquelure patterns in oil paintings using precise 3D morphological analysis for art authentication

“…In the first method, the appearance of artworks is visually inspected for pigments, paint aging, canvas aging, and cracking generated on the surface of artworks. In the second method, scientific techniques, such as bright-field microscopy [ 11 ], scanning electron microscopy [ 12 ], transmission electron microscopy [ 13 ], infrared imaging [ 14 , 15 ], and ultraviolet imaging [ 16 ], are used to examine the artworks.…”

Adapted-Consumer-Technology Approach to Making Near-Infrared-Reflectography Visualization of Paintings and Murals Accessible to a Wider Audience

“…39 Weiss's method demonstrates that smartphones can be used to yield reliable data on the visual properties of aging newspapers and reveals a potential application of citizen science in the heritage sector through the use of smartphones. Smith et al 40 have demonstrated the use of an inexpensive night-vision-camera webcam, modified with a long-pass filter and paired with a laptop computer, for IRR imaging of artworks in "chemistry-ofart" courses. They state that this method has the potential to make students "aware of some of the diverse applications of physics and chemistry in the field of art conservation, and more generally to the role of the sciences in the humanities".…”

Advanced Art Authentication in Oil Paintings Using Precise 3D Morphological Analysis of Craquelure Patterns

“…In addition, the high-end performance capabilities of electron microscopes provide useful morphological features such as surface topography and composition of art pigments though scanning electron microscope (SEM) [12] and transmission electron microscope (TEM) [13]. Infrared [14,15] and ultraviolet [16] optical technologies can collect hidden information in the layers of undercoat paint as positive proof for artwork authentication. However, counterfeit technologies have developed rapidly and there are cases where authentication test cannot be judged to be reliable even when using various technologies.…”