Scientific imaging

Following five years of research conducted in collaboration with a team of engineers, I developed an ultra-high-resolution infrared imaging system designed specifically for the study of paintings, with particularly advanced imaging capabilities compared with the solutions currently available.

This innovative approach, informed by my experience as a conservator, achieves a degree of detail and precision rarely attained in the analysis of paintings.

My equipment explores the infrared spectrum up to 1700 nanometres, a range essential for revealing what lies beneath the surface. Its exceptional resolution, reaching up to 950 million pixels, makes it possible to observe the work both as a whole and in its smallest details with rarely accessible precision.

My profession as a conservator is a major advantage when interpreting images produced by very-high-precision equipment, whose results remain difficult to read without direct experience of paint layers and materials.

This technology makes elements entirely invisible to the naked eye visible: preparatory drawings, pentimenti, earlier compositions, material variations and vulnerable areas. Where conventional infrared cameras provide a general view, my system allows an extremely precise analysis of the structure and paint layers, essential to study and conservation.

Scientific imaging complements the atelier’s practice when questions arise about a painting and when its nature justifies examination. It provides a clearer understanding of how the work was constructed, how it changed over time and its state of conservation, guiding treatment in a reasoned and respectful way.

I also offer X-radiography carried out using modern equipment. The images are then optimised using specialist software to improve their legibility and highlight information essential to the study of the work: support structure, superimposed layers, earlier restorations and concealed elements.

Ultraviolet examination is a useful analytical tool for documenting the history of interventions and refining the technical reading of a painting. It helps examine the painted surface and reveal certain areas of overpaint, retouching and alteration that may be imperceptible in visible light. It can also identify old varnishes left behind during more recent restorations, which appear through fluorescence.

Pigment analysis can constitute an essential stage in the scientific examination of paintings. It makes it possible to verify whether the materials and painting techniques are consistent with the dating or attribution of a work.

Using micro-samples, studied in stratigraphic cross-section whenever possible, the analyses combine optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDX elemental analysis.

These techniques identify the different paint layers and characterise the pigments, gilding, bronze powders and mineral fillers present in each layer.

The results are compared with a database built from several decades of expertise and supplemented by a scientific library.

Complete scientific-imaging dossiers are available on request. Depending on requirements, they may include ultra-high-definition infrared imaging, X-radiographs, digital assemblies and processing, and high-resolution files with their documentation.

When material analysis is required, samples can be taken at the atelier and entrusted to the CESAAR laboratory in Pessac. The results are discussed jointly to ensure a reading coherent with the artwork before they are sent to the client.

Scientific imaging is intended for conservators, art historians, collectors and institutions for preliminary studies, research and archive building. It also supports experts, particularly on questions of attribution.