Search Results (736)

Ten ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the collection of the Museo delle Culture in Lugano (Switzerland) were analyzed to identify the materials used in their production. These Japanese artworks were traditionally created with colors derived from minerals and plants, mixed with diluted animal glue and applied to paper using wooden matrices. Due to their fragility, non-invasive external reflection infrared spectroscopy and imaging analysis were employed. Spectral data were compared with reference samples of Japanese pigments and existing literature, reflecting the growing interest in the characterization of ukiyo-e prints. Within the limits of the non-invasive approach, several colorants were identified, including akane (madder), suo (sappanwood), yamahaji (Japanese sumac), kariyasu (Eulalia), and kio (orpiment), along with a proteinaceous binding medium. The extensive use of bero-ai (Prussian blue), applied both as a pure pigment and in mixtures, was confirmed. Notably, mica was detected in the background of one print, providing the first analytical evidence of the kirazuri decorative technique, which produces a sparkling, silver-like effect. Ultraviolet-induced fluorescence imaging further contributed to the assessment of conservation status, revealing faded decorative motifs and signs of previous water damage. Full article

This essay proposes operative creativity as a conceptual and artistic response to the shifting roles of images in the age of algorithmic perception. Departing from Harun Farocki’s seminal artwork Eye/Machine, which first introduced the operative image as functioning not to represent but to activate within machinic processes, it traces the transformation of images from representational devices to machinic agents embedded in systems of simulation and realization. Although operative images were initially engineered for strictly technological functions, they have, from their inception, been subject to repurposing for human perception and interpretation. Drawing on literature theorizing the redirection of operative images within military, computational, and epistemic domains, the essay does not attempt a comprehensive survey. Instead, it opens a conceptual aperture within the framework, expanding it to illuminate the secondary redeployment of operative images in contemporary visual culture. Concluding with the artwork Terms and Conditions, co-created by Ruti Sela and the author, it examines how artistic gestures might neutralize the weaponized gaze, offering a mode of operative creativity that troubles machinic vision and reclaims a space for human opacity. Full article

The analysis of historical pigments contributes significantly to understanding the materials and techniques used in artworks and in preserving cultural heritage. This work introduces a novel methodology for classifying historical pigments combining X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy with machine learning techniques. We applied this approach to a representative heterogeneous dataset of historical pigments from the open-access spectral library INFRA-ART, as well as commercial oil colors and pigments with different particle sizes. A comparative analysis through principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) demonstrates the advantages of the full-spectrum method over conventional peak-based strategies, offering improved classification performances and robustness. Employing the entire spectrum, it is possible to access additional key features for pigment discrimination that are discarded during the computation of the traditional methods and it is possible to have an efficient feature extraction even in more complex samples. This approach offers significant advantages by allowing the simultaneous processing of extensive datasets, which is useful for interpreting real-world scenarios in cultural heritage that are characterized by high heterogeneity. Full article

This paper presents a deep learning-based system designed for generating, storing, and retrieving embeddings, specifically tailored for analyzing craquelure networks in paintings. Craquelure, the fine pattern of the craquelure network formed on a painting’s surface over time, is a unique “fingerprint” for artwork item authentication. The system utilizes a modified VGG19 backbone, which effectively balances computational efficiency with the ability to extract rich, multi-scale features from high-resolution grayscale images. By leveraging this architecture, the model captures global structural patterns and local texture information, which are essential for reliable analysis. Full article

This research presents a generative AI mechanism designed to assist artists in finding inspiration and developing ideas during their creative process by leveraging their emotions as a driving force. The proposed iterative inspiration cycle, complete with feedback loops, helps artists digitally capture their creative emotions and use them as a guiding “vision” for creating artwork. Within the mechanism, the “Emotion Vision” images, generated from sketch line drawings and creative emotion prompts, are a medium designed to inspire artists. Experimental results demonstrate a positive inspirational effect, particularly in the creation of ‘Abstract Expressionism’ and ‘Impressionism’ artworks. In addition, we introduce the Emotion Vision Score metric, which quantifies the effectiveness of emotional inspiration. This metric evaluates how well “Emotion Vision” images inspire artists by balancing sketch intentions, creative emotions, and inspirational diversity, thus identifying the most effective images for inspiration. This novel mechanism integrates emotional intelligence into AI for art creation, allowing it to understand and replicate human emotion in its outputs. By enhancing emotional depth and ensuring consistency in generative AI, this research aims to advance digital art creation and contribute to the evolution of artistic expression through generative AI. Full article

Thangka is a unique form of painting in Tibet, which holds rich cultural significance and artistic value. In Thangkas, in addition to the standard human form, there are also figures with multiple limbs. Existing human pose estimation methods are not well suited for keypoint detection of figures in Thangka paintings. This paper builds upon YOLOv11-Pose and introduces the Mamba structure to enhance the model’s ability to capture global features. A feature fusion module is employed to integrate both shallow and deep features, and a KAL loss function is proposed to alleviate the interference between keypoints of different body parts. In this study, a dataset of 6208 Thangka images is collected and annotated for Thangka keypoint detection, and data augmentation techniques are used to enhance the generalization of the dataset. Experimental results show that MythPose achieves 89.13% mAP@0.5, 92.51% PCK, and 87.22% OKS in human pose estimation tasks on Thangka images, outperforming the baseline model. This research not only provides a reference for the digital preservation of Thangka art but also offers insights for pose estimation tasks in other similar artworks. Full article

Orpiment (As₂S₃), a yellow mineral pigment widely used in historical artworks, undergoes degradation that seriously threatens the integrity of Dunhuang murals. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) exist widely in air, which may be one reason for the color change of pigments. This study aims to investigate the degradation effects and mechanisms of four ROS—hydroxyl radical (·OH), singlet oxygen (¹O₂), peroxynitrite anion (ONOO⁻), and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)—on orpiment. By simulating chemical reaction systems, the interaction processes between different ROS and orpiment were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed, and the degradation capacities of each ROS on orpiment were evaluated. The experiments show that all ROS can induce orpiment degradation, among which ·OH exhibits the strongest degradation capacity due to its high oxidation potential, while ¹O₂, ONOO⁻, and H₂O₂ have relatively minor impacts on orpiment aging. It is the first time that a study has confirmed that ROS (especially ·OH) may drive orpiment degradation in environments, contributing to the increasing number of conservation strategies for artworks. Full article

Contemporary muralism has gained increasing cultural and social relevance in recent years, becoming a prominent form of urban artistic expression. However, its outdoor exposure makes it highly vulnerable to environmental degradation, raising significant challenges for long-term preservation. While solar radiation is widely recognized as a main agent of deterioration, the impact of rainfall has received comparatively little attention. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the durability of commercial protective coatings applied to modern paints (alkyd, acrylic, and styrene-acrylic) under simulated rain exposure. The ageing protocol replicates approximately 10 years of cumulative rainfall in Central-Southern Europe. A key innovation of this research is the use of a custom-built rain chamber, uniquely designed to expose a large number of samples simultaneously under highly uniform and controlled rain conditions. The system ensures reproducible exposure through a precision-controlled moving platform and programmable rain delivery. A comprehensive set of analytical techniques was employed to assess morphological, chemical, and functional changes in the coatings and paints before and after ageing. Results highlight the limited performance of current protective materials and the need for more effective solutions for the conservation of contemporary outdoor artworks. Full article

Artistic style transfer aims to transfer the style of an artwork to a photograph while maintaining its original overall content. Although current style-transfer methods have achieved promising results when processing photorealistic images, they often struggle with brushstroke preservation in artworks, especially in styles such as oil painting and pointillism. In such cases, the extracted style and content features tend to include redundant information, leading to issues such as blurred edges and a loss of fine details in the transferred images. To address this problem, this paper proposes a multi-scale general style-transfer network based on diffusion models. The proposed network consists of a coarse style-transfer module and a refined style-transfer module. First, the coarse style-transfer module is designed to perform mainstream style-transfer tasks more efficiently by operating on downsampled images, enabling faster processing with satisfactory results. Next, to further enhance edge fidelity, a refined style-transfer module is introduced. This module utilizes a segmentation component to generate a mask of the main subject in the image and performs edge-aware refinement. This enhances the fusion between the subject’s edges and the target style while preserving more detailed features. To improve overall image quality and better integrate the style along the content boundaries, the output from the coarse module is upsampled by a factor of two and combined with the subject mask. With the assistance of ControlNet and Stable Diffusion, the model performs content-aware edge redrawing to enhance the overall visual quality of the stylized image. Compared with state-of-the-art style-transfer methods, the proposed model preserves more edge details and achieves more natural fusion between style and content. Full article

The purpose of this study is to analyze how future landscape paintings using paints and binders made from the waste materials of a particular region and the background information of these artworks affect viewers’ behavioral intentions regarding social and environmental issues. First, 30 beauty evaluation items were extracted by a repertory grid analysis. Then, we asked participants to view the artworks at an exhibition in order to determine the impact of the background information behind the painting and the painting itself on participants’ imagination of the future, reconsidering themselves, social and environmental issues, and their behavioral intentions. The results showed that viewing paintings with their background information and using paints made of waste materials from a particular region improved participants’ behavioral intentions to imagine the future, to reconsider themselves, and to reconsider social and environmental issues. The elements of beauty of the paintings were found to have the potential to trigger the first step toward lifestyle change for sustainability. Full article

Assessing the condition of artworks is a critical step in cultural heritage conservation that traditionally involves manual damage mapping, which is time-consuming and reliant on expert input. This study, conducted within the ChemiNova project, explores the automation of edge detection using both classical image processing techniques (Canny, Sobel, and Laplacian) and a deep learning model (DexiNed). The methodology integrates interdisciplinary collaboration between conservation professionals and computer scientists, applying these algorithms to artworks affected by environmental damage, including flooding. Preprocessing and post-processing techniques were used to enhance detection accuracy and reduce noise. The results show that while traditional methods often yield higher precision and recall scores, they are also sensitive to texture and contrast variations. These findings suggest that automated edge detection can support conservation efforts by streamlining condition assessments and improving documentation. Full article

Ultraviolet-induced fluorescence (UVF) imaging represents a simple but powerful technique in cultural heritage studies. It is a nondestructive and non-invasive imaging technique which can supply useful and relevant information to define the state of conservation of an artifact. UVF imaging also helps to establish the value of an artwork by indicating inpainting, repaired areas, grouting, etc. In general, ultraviolet fluorescence imaging output takes the form of 2D photographs in the case of both paintings and sculptures. For this reason, a few years ago the idea of applying the photogrammetric method to create 3D digital twins under ultraviolet fluorescence was developed to address the requirements of restorers who need daily documentation tools for their work that are simple to use and can display the entire 3D object in a single file. This review explores recent applications of this innovative method of ultraviolet fluorescence imaging with reference to the wider literature on the UVF technique to make evident the practical importance of its application in cultural heritage. Full article

Three-dimensional (3D) reproduction of artworks has advanced significantly, offering valuable insights for conservation by documenting the objects’ conservative state at both macroscopic and microscopic scales. This paper presents the 3D survey of an earthquake-damaged panel painting, whose wooden support suffered severe deformation during a seismic event, posing unique restoration challenges. Our work focuses on quantifying how shape variations in the support—induced during restoration—affect the surface morphology of the pictorial layers. To this end, we conducted measurements before and after support consolidation using two complementary 3D techniques: structured-light projection to generate 3D models of the painting, tracking global shape changes in the panel, and laser-scanning microprofilometry to produce high-resolution models of localized areas, capturing surface morphology, superficial cracks, and pictorial detachments. By processing and cross-comparing 3D point cloud data from both techniques, we quantified shape variations and evaluated their impact on the pictorial layers. This approach demonstrates the utility of multi-scale 3D documentation in guiding complex restoration interventions. Full article

The study at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice highlights critical interactions between indoor air quality, visitor dynamics, and microclimatic conditions, offering insights into preventive conservation of modern artworks. By analyzing pollutants such as ammonia, formaldehyde, and organic acids, alongside visitor density and environmental data, the research identified key patterns and risks. Through three seasonal monitoring campaigns, the concentrations of SO₂ (sulphur dioxide), NO (nitric oxide), NO₂ (nitrogen dioxide), NO_x (nitrogen oxides), HONO (nitrous acid), HNO₃ (nitric acid), O₃ (ozone), NH₃ (ammonia), CH₃COOH (acetic acid), HCOOH (formic acid), and HCHO (formaldehyde) were determined using passive samplers, as well as temperature and relative humidity data loggers. In addition, two specific short-term monitoring campaigns focused on NH₃ were performed to evaluate the influence of visitor presence on indoor concentrations of the above compounds and environmental parameters. NH₃ and HCHO concentrations spiked during high visitor occupancy, with NH₃ levels doubling in crowded periods. Short-term NH₃ campaigns confirmed a direct correlation between visitor numbers and the above indoor concentrations, likely due to human emissions (e.g., sweat, breath) and off-gassing from materials. The indoor/outdoor ratios indicated that several pollutants originated from indoor sources, with ammonia and acetic acid showing the highest indoor concentrations. By measuring the number of visitors and microclimate parameters (temperature and humidity) every 3 s, we were able to precisely estimate the causality and the temporal shift between these quantities, both at small time scale (a few minute delay between peaks) and at medium time scale (daily average conditions due to the continuous inflow and outflow of visitors). Full article

In this article, a multidisciplinary methodological approach for studying a wooden panel painting is applied. The theoretical framework, within which this research has arisen, is the application of state-of-the-art non-destructive techniques for addressing issues concerning the constituting parts and composing materials of the artwork. Hereby, a post-Byzantine icon was studied, which was dated back to 1836. It is a painting executed on a wooden panel, with a decorated wooden frame attached. The artifact was thoroughly investigated through the application of infrared thermography (IRT), multispectral imaging (MSI), and macroscopic X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (MA-XRF). These analyses provided crucial information about the verso of the painting (i.e., the wooden panel and the frame) and allowed for the revelation of important details of the recto of the painting, which were not visible due to the presence of an old, decayed varnish. Additionally, through the detailed mapping of the distribution of various chemical elements on the recto of the painting and the frame, it was possible to identify the materials used and techniques employed. It is therefore shown that, when combined, the non-destructive methodologies in consideration can provide adequate information referring to the materiality and state of preservation of panel paintings, permitting the conservator to proceed to a tailored conservation treatment. Full article