City of Split Heritage Journal, No. 35, 2009.
Professional paper
PORTRAIT OF HOLLY FAMILY WITH ST. JOHN FROM THE MONASTERY OF ST. FRANCIS (ST. FRANE) IN SPLIT – RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION WORK
Frane Mihanović
; Medicinski fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu
Jurica Matijević
; Umjetnička akademija Sveučilišta u Splitu
Julija Baćak
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel u Splitu
Abstract
A conservation–restoration procedure has been carried out on the portrait of Holly Family with St. John, from the Monastery of St. Francis (Sv. Frane) in Split. The procedure was done at the Department of Conservation and Restoration at Split Academy of Arts.
This oil portrait on canvas is dated to the 17th century. Prior to the procedure, the portrait was in a very bad shape. That is why it did not attract attention of experts although, even then, its artistic quality was indisputable.
Both the research and the procedure revealed an unusual and interesting composition of the painting. One of the methods used in the course of the procedure was digital radiography. So far, this method has not often been used in the research of the composition of easel paintings in this area. The method allowed comparison of the results with the results obtained by analog radiography.
The source of radiation, in this case, was a portable RTG device, which is also used in medicine. A cassette containing a phosphoric board was placed underneath the chosen portion of the painting. The portion was then illuminated by the photon-rich low energy
x-ray beams. The radiation that penetrated the painting was transformed by the film-converter placed inside the cassette, into a light beam. The light beam projected the latent image on the
phosphoric board. Another key device, used in the course of the research, was a frame grabber that transformed the latent image into the visible one. The obtained images were evaluated using a DICOM viewer. The obtained results were compared and substantiated with the results obtained by the analysis of painted layers and preparation.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
66156
URI
Publication date:
26.11.2009.
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