Conferences

picture heritech 2

Florence Heritech conference

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What if, instead of the artworks, are the diagnostics tests to be falsified?                                                                                                     

At the long-awaited Florence Heritech conference, Art-Test in collaboration with two departments of the University of Florence, with S.T.Art-Test, and with the National Optical Institute of the CNR, will present “Forensic Imaging for Art Diagnostics. What evidence should we trust?“.
   The work presents the first results on the scientific analysis of the integrity of diagnostic images, and in particular X-rays images.This is a relevant topic since more and more often these imagines are, rightly so, used to support or dismiss an attribution. This is a totally new subject that is being addressed for the first time in the scientific literature. For this year the conference will be held online from 14 to 16 October, and the proceeding, subject to rigorous review by experts, will be published by IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, an indexed journal, and as always, in open access mode, therefore accessible to all.
   We will miss direct interaction with other participants but we hope that this format will allow a good number of people to follow remotely. Don’t miss it! The event calendar will be announced on October 14th here

  (AP)

lubec

LuBeC 2019: the possible future of Culture: musea as metropolitan hub to resist against barbarism?

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Among fairs dedicated to cultural heritage, Lucca Cultural Heritage (LuBeC), now in its fifteenth edition, has found a specific place. Its original and original vocation is to participate in the debate between public administration and business and to generate concrete actions for a culture that produces not only economic but also social results.

The landscape of public cultural heritage management is inevitably changing and LuBeC focuses on this transformation in different areas.

The increasing digitization, with new tools and ways of management, is addressed in the “digitalization, archive and open data” area.

The reflections proposed in the other spaces, examine the need to adapt to this change and manage it in the best way, guaranteeing its economic, social and environmental sustainability and promoting public participation in cultural activities.

It becomes relevant to question how much the culture industry can be incisive on the economic and social balance of a city or how much making everything “usable” to tourists, especially in some places already saturated, won’t let citizen feel extraneous to their territory. This reflection inevitably binds the vision of a museum as a cultural hub and a center of social education and therefore a place in which to form the conscience of citizens. This, in particular, could be the mission of civic museums. The defense of the territory and its enhancement inexorably pass through the shared knowledge of its history. An objective that can be achieved using, for example, new tools such as gamification, which are appealing, especially for new generations.

All the themes proposed in this edition are also in line with the European Agenda for Culture. LuBec will thus contribute to the international debate on what are the synergies to be implemented to contribute to the smooth functioning of culture as a fundamental cog in gears of society.

The LuBec awaits us on 3 and 4 October. The program and info on inscriptions at this link: https://www.lubec.it/en/exhibiting-lubec-digital-technology.html

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saloni

That’s fair!

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Even if the sector in general appears to be in a bit of a crisis, there are still quite a number of fairs organized on conservation, in Italy and in the world. In our country, this year there will be two within a few months.

In the International Restoration Fair in Ferrara, (18th to 20th September), the eye-catching theme is the project RESTAURO MADE IN ITALY
The goal is to maintain international visibility and reiterate Italy as one of the world’s reference points. The fair will also be associated with the first edition of the Restoration Week, which will see the launch of the APT (Association of Preservation Technologies) – European Chapter. A new European network for the restoration and enhancement of cultural heritage. We also signal the interesting conference “The meaning and marketing of restoration in Italy and target Countries: an overview”, on Thursday 19th, where the meaning of the term “restoration” in the various countries and cultures will be discussed.

The appointment with the Florence Art and Restoration Fair is from 13 to 15 May 2020, at Palazzo dei Congressi.
Also this year Heritech – the Future of Heritage Science and Technology – scientific conference, will be organized in the same period and place of the trade show and this is why Art-Test has chosen to participate in this event.

The 1st edition of FLORENCE HERI-TECH – The Future of Heritage Science and Technologies, two years ago, welcomed leading researchers and scholars from all over the world to present and discuss innovative techniques and technologies. The proposed contributions were 180, with the involvement of public institutions, universities, companies and museums. Art-Test Florence, which has always actively participated in research, had presented 4 papers, and was awarded “for the commitment and constant study in the search for new scientific approaches” with the Palazzo Spinelli Award “Research and Development of new technologies qualified for cultural heritage“.
We are still preparing the contribution for the 2020 edition, and knowing that Florence will become the international heart of restoration and cultural heritage, we will be proud to be part of it.

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Art conservation meets science at Florence Heri-Tech

Art conservation meets science at Florence Heri-Tech

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The next Salone dell’Arte e del Restauro will be on 16-18 May ’18 at the Palazzo dei Congressi, Florence (I). This year’s edition presents an important new element: alongside the usual event, an international conference Florence Heri-tech has been organized (deadline for abstracts submission 15 Nov ’17). The international scientific community will gather to discuss about conservation, diagnostic and fruition strategies for cultural heritage. Thus a novel approach, never attempted before by a conservation fair where usually only talks about case studies or new devices are presented.
This new combination will give conservators and museum personnel, who generally attend conservation fairs, the opportunity to be confronted with the newest research results and for scientists to get to know better their end-users. We genuinely hope that this cross will further develop so as to help this field which would certainly benefit from an increased shared scientific approach in conservation and authentication issues.
A small island with big plans!

A small island with big plans!

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Procida, a small island in the bay of Naples, became the protagonist of a conference focused on the possibility for it of being a recuperation model in the broadest sense. Its historical heritage could in fact become the engine of economic and cultural wealth.

“The Island of Procida: the sustainable rebirth and the beauty economy” is the title of the conference, to which Art-Test participated, and during which speakers explained the developments and possible variations of that aspiration.

The starting point is a huge historical and architectural complex dating back to 1200, including the hunting lodge of Ferdinand II of Bourbon, who later became a maximum security prison of the Italian State, unfortunately abandoned since 1988, because it did not comply with the new safety standards.

In recent years, the property ownership was transferred to the City itself, and today Procida attempts to revive this “piece” of the island’s history, proposing it as a possible model of sustainable development. This ambitious project aims at making the complex attractive for research organizations, universities and …  individuals, making Palazzo d’Avalos, and the former penitential home, models of cultural and economic evolution.

Already during the first intervention at the conference, the importance of diagnostics tests was underlined as being the initial moment of knowledge but also an undisputable means for the future prominence of it. Understanding and awareness raising through art diagnostics.

Procida, and its place for “locking down”, the former prison, wants to become a place of great openness to the various forms of culture.

With Cultural Heritage mingled with contemporaneity. A contemporary artist, Alfredo Pirri, had, in fact, already chosen the island last year for “7.0”, a suggestive creation with which to bring to the memory of the viewers “the same look , identically dreamy or painful that once ran through the very same window and headed for the sea and far away places once only imagined”. The window is one of many in this complex looking towards Vesuvius, behind which in the morning you can enjoy the romantic tones of a special sunrise, with colors that fascinated so much the Grand Tour painters.

And it is this landscape, seen from the highest point of the island, allowing to embrace in a single sight the whole territory of the Campi Flegrei, to create a unique added value for a place which is meant to be a point from which to observe, but that it now also under the spot light.

Paintings out of jail: the restoration of the paintings of Porto Azzurro.

Paintings out of jail: the restoration of the paintings of Porto Azzurro.

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On the 9th of April, at SACI (www.saci.florence.edu) a symposium was held on the paintings belonging to the Church of San Giacomo Maggiore the Fort of Elba, now the chapel of the current penitentiary.

The Symposium was an interesting opportunity to learn, thanks to the Superintendent of Pisa, Dott. Francesco D’Anselmo, the official Amedeo Mercurio and to Dr. Roberta Lapucci, head of the restoration department of SACI, about the history and the current status of the fortification built in 1603 on the initiative of Philip II, and the adjoining church. A nodal and strategic site to defend Elba and Argentario from pirate raids from the south and French attacks from the north. Depleted from this function, from the mid-nineteenth century the fortification was gradually converted to a penitential institution.

The paintings which belong to the church and were the subject of analysis and restoration are of the Florentine school and dated between the seventeenth and eighteenth century. They were donated by the Tuscan grand ducal court or commissioned by the governors of the Fort. The iconographic theme is centered on sacred subjects and honours the saints celebrated by the post-Tridentine tradition.

In 1987, because of a riot in the prison, the church was severely damaged and has since been abandoned.

Only now, thanks to the synergy between the SACI school and the Superintendent a project is being carried out to return to the public part of the goods stored here Art-Test has contributed a diagnostic campaign that has studied the first four paintings which underwent restoration. Both addressing conservation aspects and studying the genesis of the paintings through the study of the underlying composition, visualized thanks to reflectographic imaging performed.

The day ended with a praise for the initiative, with the confirmation of the obvious need to recover a site so important to the history of Elba island but also with a reflection, as underlined by dr. Mercurio on what could be the future of the church’s art apparatus. Currently it is not foreseen for the church to be reopened to the public. The restored works if not relocated would still remain unseen by the community. Alternative solutions are therefore being sought after. An alternative way of exhibit could for example include showing the diagnostic surveys to add intriguing information and create fascinating opportunities for the curious tourist.

Here the link to a video of the exhibition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS9Jb3GkM9o

aiar_21

CARAVAGGIO OR NOT CARAVAGGIO?

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Aiar 2016

For Art-Test, the Aiar appointment is double. If you have missed the interesting workshop on Caravaggio last April in Empoli, you can take the opportunity to see the work of Art-Test in conjunction with S.T. Art-Test entitled “Caravaggio or not Caravaggio? Preliminary scientific evidence for the attribution of the St. John the Baptist of Empoli (Tuscany)”. How many of sensational discoveries news are given when it comes to names such as Caravaggio, however, without the support of an adequate system of preliminary studies? The infrared analysis on Empoli version of San Giovanni Battista discloses important factual discoveries; the debate is open: the scientific data can really make a difference and rewrite the entire history of a painting!
For the complete program of the congress AIAr:
http://www.associazioneaiar.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ProgrammaAIAr_web.pdf

Caravaggesco_Empoli (1)

Chinaware

MADE IN CHINA: GENUINE OR FAKE?

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Chinese porcelain is one of the great protagonists of the art market in recent years; but how do you prove that such pieces are worthy a relevant investment and are not fake?
Experience has taught that for great quality imitations, the traditional authentication methods based on the study of style, decoration, materials and trademarks, often proved to be inadequate. Even for porcelain artefacts scientific diagnostic is fundamental. For these artefacts chemical microsamples analyses are traditionally used, although in recent decades, advanced non-invasive techniques have developed that can limit (micro-) destructive sampling.
In this regard, we are pleased to remind you that on next 10 March, during “A bridge between art and science: past, present and future”, the 2016 National Congress of AIAr (Italian Association of Archaeometry of which Art-Test is a member), we will be guests of the University of Cosenza along with many scholars and professionals, teachers and researchers from universities and public research bodies, archaeologists and restorers to discuss diagnostic, restoration, preventive conservation and protection.
During the session “Characterization and Diagnostics” will present together with colleagues from S.T. Art-Test and one of the greatest experts of these artefacts, Riccardo Montanari, the intervention “A non-invasive approach for the authentication of oriental porcelain“. Our proposal is based on the integration of non-invasive fluorescence X-rays and computed tomography X-ray… more details on Thursday 10th!!
Our attention to the Chinese market does not stop there. It is an increasingly attractive market, especially now that the attention of Chinese collectors is turning also towards European paintings, as proven by the recent purchase at auction of a Modigliani by a Chinese tycoon for 170 million dollars. Art-Test is approaching this reality, following different paths… news on that will be coming soon!

Visi

No Photoshop, thanks! WIFS 2015

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During the “7th IEEE International Workshop on Information Forensics and Security (WIFS) 2015”, on November 19, a paper by L.Pronti, P. Ferrara, F.Uccheddu, A. Pelagotti and A.Piva entitled “Identification of pictorial materials by means of optimized multispectral reflectance image processing.” will be presented. The work relates to the analysis of the limits and the possibilities offered by multispectral imaging for a reliable identification of materials used in paintings, and stems from the increasingly active collaboration between the University of Florence, La Sapienza in Rome and Art-Test . The multispectral imaging is always a relevant topic, and an interesting non-invasive method, although recently abused by those who lack the necessary scientific basis. Art-test has been a pioneer of this field, with the paper  “Multispectral Imaging of Paintings: a Way to Material Identification” by A.Pelagotti, A. Del Mastio, A .de Rosa, A.Piva, , published in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, Special Issue on Cultural Heritage, vol. 25 n. 4 in July 2008. Since its start, Art-Test develops and applies cutting-edge scientific methods for artworks analysis and diagnostics. We do not use PhotoShop or similar commercial software. The results of our research are usually presented in relevant scientific publications, except when prevented by confidentiality reasons. If you are interested in the scientific methods used in our investigations, please check http://www.art-test.com/pubblicazioni/

Madonna

The latest publications to which Art-Test contributed:

  • V.Raimondi at alii, The use of IR-based techniques in the PRIMARTE project: an integrated approach to the diagnostics of the cultural heritage AITA 215- Advanced Infrared Technology and Applications – 29 Sept. – 2 Oct. 2015, Pisa, Italy, SPIE Remote Sensing 2015 -1 – 24 September 2015 – Toulouse, France AITA
  • V.Raimondi at al A multi-disciplinary study on a late 14th-century Florentine Chapel: integrating information, from laser-based measurements to archive historical data, in a multi-medial tools for cultural heritage conservation, LACONA X 2014 – Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks, 9-13 June 2014, Sharjah, UAE
  • F.Uccheddu, A.Pelagotti, V.Cappellini and E.Massa. 3D Technology for Measurement of Surface Deformations Paintings: A Case Study, Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA 2014) London, UK, 8-10 July 2014
  • F. Alberghina, M.F. Alberghina, L. Damiani, E. Massa, A. Pelagotti, L.Piccione, S. Schiavone, U. Copani, X-rays for diagnostic imaging of art -46 ° National Congress of the Italian Society of Medical Radiology (SIRM), Florence – Fortezza da Basso (22-25 May 2014) “The X-ray over the Medicine”
  • F.Alberghina, MFAlberghina, L.Damiani, E.Massa, A.Pelagotti, S. Schiavone, How many layers and of what? An integrated non-invasive approach for the understanding of painting’s stratigraphy, IV International Meeting “Youth in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage – YOCOCU”, 28 to 31 May 2014, Agsu – Azerbaijan.

 

Forthcoming:

  • The Pala del Carmine Santi di Tito, analysis of technique and materials used, Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage, Fabrizio Serra publisher, Pisa – Rome
  • The Rape of the Sabines by Giambologna and its restoration. And syllables, Livorno by Lia Brunori and Susanna Bracci
  • Beyond Gold: a database of underdrawings and material analyzes on Sienese paintings. Connections and dissimilarities of painting techniques across centuries and countries. Published by Bernard Coulie and Paul Dujardin
  • Above and below the painting: the results of scientific studies on the Madonna di San Luca in Bologna, curated by Dr. Franco Faranda
Caravaggio keeps raising interest

Caravaggio keeps raising interest

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A conference about the influence of the Lombard painter in Northern Europe is scheduled for the end of November at the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht (NL).
The conference aims to shed new light on the diversity of artistic responses derived from the works painted by Caravaggio during the first decades of the seventeenth century. Interesting is also the proposal to investigate the mechanisms of migration, the history of collecting and the relationships between the artists. The conference anticipates some of the central themes of the upcoming exhibition “Caravaggio and the painters of the North”, which will take place at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid (June 21-September 25, 2016).
Here is the link for more information: http://niki-florence.org/caravaggio-and-northern-european-painting-niki-conference-utrecht-30-november/
The conference poster shows the painting “St. John the Baptist”, which we discussed in http://www.art-test.com/unforgettable-out-look/, in occasion of the presentation of the analysis of the version of Empoli.

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