This book presents a comprehensive forensic analysis of an oil painting depicting a Madonna and Child in a tondo format, previously thought to be a Victorian copy. Detailed historical and scientific studies confirm that this painting was, in fact, created by Raphael around 1512 as a study for his renowned Sistine Madonna, commissioned by Pope Julius II as an altarpiece for the monastic church of San Sisto in Piacenza. The painting underwent rigorous forensic examination, combining historical research with both invasive and non-invasive scientific imaging techniques. The analysis utilized advanced physical and chemical instrumentation to determine the painting's authenticity and accurate chronological placement. A comparative review of published chemical analyses of pigments, dyes, and substrates used in Raphael’s works from collections worldwide is included. Additionally, this study explores the innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) for facial comparison between the figures in the tondo painting, the Sistine Madonna, and other Raphael artworks. These AI-generated insights provide novel information about the identities of Raphael’s models and shed light on his working techniques, as well as those of his associates.

The material for this book arose from the author’s research into porcelains over many years, as a collector in appreciation of their artistic beauty , as an analytical chemist in the scientific interrogation of their body paste, enamel pigments and glaze compositions, and as a ceramic historian in the assessment of their manufactory foundations and their correlation with available documentation relating to their recipes and formulations. A discussion of the role of analysis in the framework of a holistic assessment of artworks and specifically the composition of porcelain, namely hard paste, soft paste, phosphatic, bone china and magnesian, is followed by its growth from its beginnings in China to its importation into Europe in the 16th Century. A survey of European porcelain manufactories in the 17th and 18th Centuries is followed by a description of the raw materials, minerals and recipes for porcelain manufacture and details of the chemistry of the high temperature firing processes involved therein. The historical backgrounds to several important European factories are considered, highlighting the imperfections in the written record that have been perpetuated through the ages. The analytical chemical information derived from the interrogation of specimens, from fragments, shards or perfect finished items, is reviewed and operational protocols established for the identification of a factory output from the data presented. Several case studies are examined in detail across several porcelain manufactories to indicate the role adopted by modern analytical science, with information provided at the quantitative elemental oxide and qualitative molecular spectroscopic levels, where applicable. The attribution of a specimen to a particular factory is either supported thereby or in some cases a potential reassessment of an earlier attribution is indicated. Overall, the information provided by analytical chemical data is seen to be extremely useful for porcelain identification and for its potential attribution in the context of a holistic forensic evaluation of hitherto unknown porcelain exemplars of questionable factory origins.

"Color image processing has involved much interest in the recent years. The use of color in image processing is motivated by the facts that 1) the human eyes can discern thousands of colors, and image processing is used both for human interaction and computer interpretation; 2) the color image comprises more information than the gray-level image; 3) the color features are robust to several image processing procedures (for example, to the translation and rotation of the regions of interest); 4) the color features are efficiently used in many vision tasks, including object recognition and tracking, image segmentation and retrieval, image registration etc.; 5) the color is necessary in many real life applications such as visual communications, multimedia systems, fashion and food industries, computer vision, entertainment, consumer electronics, production printing and proofing, digital photography, biometrics, digital artwork reproduction, industrial inspection, and biomedical applications. Finally, the enormous number of color images that constantly are uploaded into Internet require new approaches and challenges of big visual media creation, retrieval, processing, and applications. It also gives us new opportunities to create a number of big visual data-driven applications. Three independent quantities are used to describe any particular color; the human eyes are seen all colors as variable combinations of primary colors of red, green, and blue. Many methods of the modern color image processing are based on dealing out each primary color"--

This deeply personal account of emotion and vulnerability draws upon anecdotes related to individual works of art to present a chronicle of how people have shown emotion before works of art in the past.

This detailed book is a “how-to” guide to building controlled vocabulary tools, cataloging and indexing cultural materials with terms and names from controlled vocabularies, and using vocabularies in search engines and databases to enhance discovery and retrieval online. Also covered are the following: What are controlled vocabularies and why are they useful? Which vocabularies exist for cataloging art and cultural objects? How should they be integrated in a cataloging system? How should they be used for indexing and for retrieval? How should an institution construct a local authority file? The links in a controlled vocabulary ensure that relationships are defined and maintained for both cataloging and retrieval, clarifying whether a rose window and a Catherine wheel are the same thing, or how pot-metal glass is related to the more general term stained glass. The book provides organizations and individuals with a practical tool for creating and implementing vocabularies as reference tools, sources of documentation, and powerful enhancements for online searching.

A catalog of the Italian Renaissance painter's work includes more than one hundred paintings and drawing, with textual entries for each, an account of the artist's life and work, and brief essays on his fresco painting in the Vatican and his work in British art collections.

Botticelli, Holbein, Leonardo, Dürer, Michelangelo: the names are familiar, as are the works, such as the Last Supper fresco, or the monumental marble statue of David. But who were these artists, why did they produce such memorable images, and how would their original beholders have viewed these objects? Was the Renaissance only about great masters and masterpieces, or were "mistresses" also involved, such as women artists and patrons? And what about the 'minor'-pieces that Renaissance men and women would have encountered in homes, churches and civic spaces? This exciting and stimulating volume will answer such questions by considering both famous and lesser-known artists, patrons and works of art within the cultural and historical context of Renaissance Europe. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Raman Spectroscopy in Archaeology and Art History highlights the important contributions Raman spectroscopy makes as a non-destructive method for characterising the chemical composition and structure and in determining the provenance and authenticity of objects of archaeological and historical importance. It brings together studies from diverse areas and represents the first dedicated work on the use of this technique in this increasingly important field. Coverage includes: An Introduction to Raman Spectroscopy, including practical aspects of Raman spectroscopy and complementary techniques; Dyes and Pigments; Artefacts; Biological Materials and Degradation; Jewellery and Precious Stones. The book contains a broad selection of real-world examples in the form of case studies to provide the reader with a true appreciation of the procedures that need to be invoked to derive spectroscopic information from some of the most challenging specimens and systems. Colour illustrations of objects of investigation and a database of 72 Raman spectra of relevant minerals are included. With its extensive examples, Raman Spectroscopy in Archaeology and Art History will be of particular interest to specialists in the field, including researchers and scientific/conservation staff in museums. Academics will find it an invaluable reference to the use of Raman spectroscopy.