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Join the 5th Edition of Florence Heri-Tech
From 26 to 30 April 2026, the fifth edition of Florence Heri-Tech returns to Florence. The conference is dedicated to technologies applied to cultural heritage, diagnostics, conservation, and the enhancement of cultural assets. This edition introduces several...
Brussels Art Fair (BRAFA) 2026
Among the exhibited paintings, there is an unpublished oil on paper by Rubens, along with several works stylistically attributable to him which, however, the vetting committee chose to classify as studio works. There are also over 40 prints by Rembrandt, many works by...
Berenson and Lotto: Intertwined Destinies
A documentary in cinemas and on TV, featuring Art-Test Two emigrants who found success far from home: Berenson and Lotto, who, in turn, brought success to one another. Because, of course, there are trends in art too—and influencers have always existed. Bernard...
Xray imaging an old but gold technique for art analysis. Let’ discover it together
Did you know that X-rays imaging is the oldest physical analysis technique used in art?It’s been 130 years since it was first applied, and it’s become so established that the phrase “X-ray scanned” has even entered everyday language — meaning something has been...
Art World
Museum Qualities
The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) once again, on March 12 to 19, presented its unmissable event , reaffirming itself as a must-attend gathering for collectors, critics, museum curators, and art lovers from around the world. With 276 dealers and galleries from...
All’s well that ends well?
Picasso painting missing in Spain has been found Tiny in size — about 13 x 10 cm — Pablo Picasso’s Still Life with Guitar (Naturaleza muerta con guitarra) mysteriously disappeared during its transport from Madrid to Granada. Was it stolen? Lost? Or just handled...
Databases and Archives as Tools to Combat Crimes Against Cultural Heritage
Mark Your Calendar: November 14 in Rome for a Landmark Cultural Heritage Event On November 14, 2020, amid the global pandemic, UNESCO established the first International Day against the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property — marking exactly 50 years since the...
5% VAT at last: a game changer for Italy’s art and antiques market?
The recent reduction of VAT on transactions from 22% to 5% has been welcomed by industry professionals. It is a long-awaited measure that could reinvigorate a market which, in Italy, has experienced glorious seasons but also decades of decline. Yet, support from...
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Discoveries and attributions
A great opportunity for those interested in conservation and scientific analyses
As announced in our previous newsletter, Florence Heri-Tech returns to Florence from 26 to 30 April. This event is dedicated to technologies applied to cultural heritage, to diagnostics, conservation, and to the valorisation of cultural assets. Art-Test has always...
Museum Qualities
The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) once again, on March 12 to 19, presented its unmissable event , reaffirming itself as a must-attend gathering for collectors, critics, museum curators, and art lovers from around the world. With 276 dealers and galleries from...
Scientifically dating cavases
Not only C14, a new method can help uncovering when and where a painting on canvas was produced Forget about counting threads through a mini magnifying glass or describing canvases using subjective classifications. In the technical laboratories of Museo Nacional del...
Rembrandt or not Rembrandt?
Diagnostics helps Next week at auction, respectively at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, two paintings connected to Rembrandt will be offered: the first, at Christie’s, was recently downgraded to “Follower of Rembrandt” (Christie’s); the second, at Sotheby’s, has had its...
Art thieves are (almost) all men
A man suspected of being the fourth member of the Louvre theft gang was arrested — along with his brother, sister, and a friend: two men, two women. Unusual in a world where art crime is overwhelmingly male. Pop culture loves glamorous female thieves: Catwoman, Carmen Sandiego, Marvel’s Black Cat, or movie heroines stealing masterpieces with charm and skill. Reality is different: Interpol and Europol show women rarely commit art theft, and when they do, it’s usually in supporting roles. One extraordinary exception is Rose Dugdale, who in 1974 led an armed raid on Russborough House, Ireland, stealing nineteen Old Master paintings to leverage IRA demands.
An original fake!
Our Study of a Corpus of Forged Drawings at the IG-IIC Conference “Paper, Pen, and Ink: Diagnostics and Restoration of Writing Materials” Writing materials are not among the most studied, yet scientific analysis techniques can naturally be applied to them as well,...
Art-Test in action
Xray imaging an old but gold technique for art analysis. Let’ discover it together
Did you know that X-rays imaging is the oldest physical analysis technique used in art?It’s been 130 years since it was first applied, and it’s become so established that the phrase “X-ray scanned” has even entered everyday language — meaning something has been...
Caravaggio in Florence
An Exhibition to Discover Not Only the Painter and His Canvases, but Also Roberto Longhi and Anna Banti, Who (Re)Discovered Caravaggio From March 27 to July 20, 2025, Villa Bardini in Florence will host the exhibition Caravaggio and the Twentieth Century: Roberto...
Who painted “La Dama”?
The Restoration and Analysis Reveal the Secrets of Pollaiolo’s Lady at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum The latest restoration of the painting Lady at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan has been completed. As often happens with careful restorations, the painting has revealed...
In Arezzo, an Exhibition Features Numerous Works by Giorgio Vasari, investigated with Art-Test Diagnostics
Giorgio Vasari is universally renowned as the author of the first “art history handbook.” Who hasn’t studied the opening chapters of his celebrated Lives? Yet Vasari’s contribution extends far beyond this iconic text. He was a remarkably talented artist and architect,...
The Ashmolean Museum Acquires a Small Crucifixion by Fra Angelico. Ahead of the major 2025 Exhibition in Florence
During the London Art Week of 2023, Christie's of London had proposed the sale of a rare Renaissance masterpiece, the Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene at the Feet of the Cross, unanimously attributed to the early work of the...
Acrobatic Diagnostics
In San Gimignano with a team of acrobats to conduct complex structural diagnostics for the Italian National Trust Also known as the "Manhattan of the Middle Ages," San Gimignano is located along the Via Francigena, in Tuscany, Italy. During its peak, the city saw the...