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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...
Not everybody in Germany has come to terms with the Nazi period. As evident also in the case of art restitutions
In recent years, the debate over the restitution of artworks stolen during the Second World War has taken on a central role in European cultural politics.Germany, in particular, is at the center of much controversy, due to the obvious role it played during the Nazi...
A tale of heroes and villains: 50 years of the Italian Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Environment was born on December 14, 1974, with a decree of urgency. The "superintendence" system already existed, more or less in the form we know them now, but the competences were divided among various ministries: the Ministry...
The Hidden Hour: Unraveling the Mystery of Vermeer’s View of Delft
The Secret of Vermeer’s “View of Delft”: A Masterpiece of Light and Time Once hailed by Marcel Proust as the most beautiful painting in the world, View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer remains one of the most celebrated artworks of the Dutch Golden Age. Vermeer, often...
Art World
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...
Taxes have gone down and now what?
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...
Will AI take over restoration?
While debates raged over whether artificial intelligence could replace connoisseurs and diagnosticians in the authentication of artworks, we didn’t see this coming. But AI has just entered the field of art restoration. Just a few days ago, Nature published an article...
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Discoveries and attributions
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,...
Primitive? To Whom?
A conference at the National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Arezzo revealed the extraordinary refinement of the techniques used by Margarito and his contemporaries A major international project has brought together many of the most prestigious European and...
That Nasty Affair of the Stolen Rutilio Manetti Painting
Was It Sgarbi? The news that has made headlines in newspapers and on television around the world in recent days is the sensational theft of jewels in broad daylight at the world’s most visited museum, the Louvre. The history of art theft is almost as old as that of...
Marchesi Antinori Present the Restoration of Pesellino’s Crucifixion
A landmark exhibition celebrates Fra Angelico with a complimentary rich programme of events Florence is currently paying tribute to Fra Angelico with an extraordinary exhibition, widely regarded as a milestone for its scope and scholarly importance. Alongside the...
Art-Test in action
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...
A 12 years old Modigliani, on video
Could it have been a very young Amedeo who painted this portrait of a girl? This artwork, which admittedly does not look like the famous Modigliani, but supposedly was painted when the artist was only 12, has been studied for years and has been subjected to numerous...