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Normal light photograph of the painting.
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Infrared photograph before cleaning. The underdrawing is quite evident on the panel. |
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Ridolfo di Ghirlandaio (1483-1561): Adoration of the Christ Child tempera on poplar, 61.6 x 46 cm
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Normal light photograph of the painting.
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Infrared photograph before cleaning. The underdrawing is quite evident on the panel. |
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Detail in raking light. The panel was once split in two and crudely glued and joined. The old retouching was peeling off with filling material falling away from the surface.
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Following several months of delicate work the painting is free of the many layers of over-painting that obscured its original beauty. |
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The photographs of the restoration of this panel painting serve well to demonstrate the value of special techniques in photography. Both infrared and ultraviolet radiation can be used to reveal valuable information about the history of interventions to this painting. Infrared radiation, because of its relatively longer wavelength, has the tendency to penetrate through the painted surface revealing the preparatory drawing. Ultraviolet techniques have the benefit of revealing small differences in reflectivity and fluorescence of materials thus helping in detecting alterations and later additions to a painting. The restoration of this panel was a long and painstaking process due to the complexity of many previous restorations. |
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