CONSERVATIONISTS ARE PUTTING THEIR COLLECTIONS UNDER THE
MICROSCOPE.
MICROSCOPE. ♪
♪ ♪
♪ >> THIS IS AN IMAGING SYSTEM,
BASICALLY A CAMERA, BUT INSTEAD
OF DETECTING VISIBLE LIGHT, IT
DETECTS A LIGHT IN THE INFRARED
RANGE.
RANGE. >> WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT INSTEAD
OF SEEING THE SURFACE OF THE
PAINTING, THE INFRARED LIGHTS GO
FURTHER INTO THE PAINTING AND
ARE REFLECTED BACK OFF THE LIGHT
GROUNDS.
GROUNDS. SO THEN WHAT WE GET IS AN IMAGE
THAT LOOKS THROUGH THE CHANGE
AND IMAGES THE UNDERDRAWING AND
THE GROUND LAYER OF THE
PAINTING.
PAINTING. AND WE COULDN'T SAMPLE,
BASICALLY, AND GET AN UNDER
DRAWING.
DRAWING. WE CAN'T X-RAY AND GET AN
UNDERDRAWING.
UNDERDRAWING. REALLY, THIS IS THE WAY THAT YOU
WOULD DO THAT.
THERE WOULD BE REALLY NO WAY FOR
US TO DO THIS INVESTIGATION THAT
WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW, WITH
ANYTHING ELSE, THAN CYRUS.
THERE ARE WAYS TO DO IT WITH A
REGULAR CAMERA, AND INFRARED
FILM BUT NOW IT'S VERY DIFFICULT
TO FIND INFRARED FILM AND IT'S
VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND SOMEONE
WHO CAN PROCESS IT.
♪
♪ >> WELL, THIS SYSTEM HAS SOME
LIMITATIONS.
LIMITATIONS. IF THERE'S A LIGHT GROUND, A
NORMAL PAINT LAYER, THE THICKER
THE PAINT LAYER, THE HARDER IT
IS TO GET IT TO PENETRATE.
IT WON'T PENETRATE CERTAIN
COLORS.
COLORS. ALMOST EVERY EXAM THAT WE HAVE,
HAS SOME LIMITATIONS.
BECAUSE IT WAS DEVELOPED FOR
OUTER SPACE, OF COURSE, IT'S A
CAMERA WITH NO VIEWFINDER WHICH
KIND OF COMPLICATES GETTING AN
IMAGE THE QUALITY THAT YOU WOULD
LIKE.
LIKE. IT'S DONE BASICALLY ON THE SIZE
OF THE PAINTING.
WOULD YOU MEASURE THE LARGEST
DIMENSION OF THE PAINTING, AND
THEN YOU WOULD USE VARIOUS
GRAPHS THAT WE HAVE TO FIGURE
OUT HOW FAR THE CAMERA NEEDED TO
BE FROM THE PAINTING, AND ALSO
TO SET YOUR BELOS.
SO BASICALLY YOU HAVE TO TAKE A
SCAN OR A PARTIAL SCAN IN ORDER
TO SEE IF YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT
PLACE.
PLACE. CURRENTLY WE ARE WORKING ON A
PROJECT TO HELP AUTHENTICATE 29
PAINTINGS IN OUR COLLECTION.
IT'S A RELATIVELY UNKNOWN
ARTIST.
ARTIST. WE ONLY HAVE ONE SIGNED PAINTING
PAINTING.
PAINTING. HE WOULD ONLY SINEMA RECENT -- N
MARINE PAINTINGS BECAUSE OF THE
HIERARCHY.
HIERARCHY. HE DID LANDSCAPES AND OTHER
ITEMS.
ITEMS. HIS IDEA OF GREAT ART WAS, YOU
KNOW, THE TRADITIONAL MARINE
PAINTINGS.
PAINTINGS. BECAUSE THERE'S NO SIGNATURES,
WE HAVE TO WORK ON SIMILARITIES.
SO WHAT WE ARE DOING IS WE HAVE
INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHS OF 30
KNOWN, ACCEPTED, ATTRIBUTED
PAINTINGS BY THIS ARTIST THOMAS
CHAMBERS AND NOW WE ARE
CURRENTLY DOING INFRARED
PHOTOGRAPHY OF OUR COLLECTION OF
29 PAINTINGS TO SEE IF WE CAN
FIND SIMILARITIES OR DIFFERENCES
THAT WOULD HELP US MOVE TOWARD
AN ATTRIBUTION FOR THESE
PAINTINGS.
PAINTINGS. ONE PARTICULAR PAINTING THAT WE
ARE WORKING ON IN THE CYRUS
PROJECT IS THE THOMAS CHAMBERS
CALLED "THE REST OF THE BRISTLE"
OPEN ROCKAWAY BEACH AND IT'S
BASICALLY A SHIP WRECK.
IT'S A LIGHT PAINTING BUT
THERE'S NO INDICATION OF ANY
UNDERDRAWING AT ALL ON IT
VISUALLY.
VISUALLY. SOMETIMES WE HAVE A CLUE THAT
THERE'S GOING TO BE SOMETHING
BUT THIS IS JUST AS STRICTLY A
PAINT FILM WITH NO INDICATION
THAT THERE'S ANYTHING UNDER IT.
IT'S BEEN, ACTUALLY, OUR MOST
SUCCESSFUL SCAN.
SUCCESSFUL SCAN. IT'S ALMOST A PERFECT PAINTER,
AS FAR AS THE PAINT, BECAUSE WE
HAVE GOTTEN INCREDIBLE DETAIL OF
THAT PAINTING WHICH GIVES US A
BOUNTY OF INFORMATION, AND WE
CAN USE THAT IN REFERENCE TO
PAINTINGS THAT HAVE LESS IF WE
CAN, IDENTIFY, WELL, THIS IS THE
SAME LOOP THAT WE SEE HERE.
AND HERE IT BROADENS WHAT WE CAN
DETERMINE FROM A LESS SUCCESSFUL
SCAN, ONE WITH LESS INFORMATION
TO RECORD.
TO RECORD. I MEAN, IT'S LIKE ANALYZING
HANDWRITING, REALLY.
HANDWRITING, REALLY. IT'S KIND OF THE SAME CONCEPT.
YOU LOOK FOR HOW DOES HE MAKE A
CLOUD FORMATION, OR HOW WOULD HE
DESIGNATE THAT WHERE WE WANTS
WATER OR A WAVE.
ALL OF THESE THINGS HAVE A
CALLIGRAPHY TO THEM.
AND SO BY COMPARING THE
UNDERDRAWING FROM ONE, TO ARROWR
SUSPECTED