Art and Tech

For once, let us be positive about how technology can help us understand and appreciate art. For decades, we have seen underpaintings revealed by X-rays. More recently, infrared reflectography and Raman Spectroscopy with laser beams have been used to supplement the microscope in restoration and authentication studies, identifying ingredients of paints and other materials and clarifying period practices. Now we have ultra-high-resolution digital photography.

In honor of the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, a new digital platform has been launched dedicated to the preservation of the 13th-century Basilica in Assisi, Italy. Jo Lawson-Tancred has written an article for Artnet about the new website, called Preserving Assisi, that allows viewers to zoom in on its centuries-old frescoes. These important works of art on the walls and ceiling by Cimabue and Giotto have been recorded with the latest technology. On the website you can find details of the individual frescos.

Before you start, I know it is not the same as being in the Basilica itself and having the entire experience, but as we also know, art fades and deteriorates over time and through neglect. Treasured locations can be destroyed by fire, natural disasters, and worst of all, war. The Basilica is a case in point, as an earthquake in 1997 destroyed part of the frescoes on its upper walls. Photographs taken only hours before the quake served in the restoration process.

Years ago, you had images in color, but before that, only black-and-white photography, and before that, other people’s drawings or copies that are mere shadows of the original. Digital documentation can include 36-degree panoramas and 3D models recording spatial context as well as close-up details that even reveal brushwork.

This documentation does not have to exist in just a single location, as it can be replicated and saved in different places. It gives us possibilities on different levels, from an introductory visit to a scholarly study, even if the original work no longer exists. This new Assisi web platform exists in Italian, Spanish, German, and English for all to learn from and enjoy. 

https://preserving-assisi.haltadefinizione.com/

Let’s turn to the case of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, where there was a fire in 2019.

Notre Dame was started in 1163 and finished in 1345. Two medieval stained-glass rose windows survived the 2019 fire, along with those designed in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc; six of these are to be replaced by windows of contemporary design. With its cleaned stone walls and brightened interior, Notre Dame will not be what we remember, but that too represents modifications over the centuries.

Tag Christof for N.Y. Times

Times and tastes change, but how wonderful it is when technological advances can bring us close to knowing what originally existed. It changes history from a collection of documents into something that can sometimes be visually and spatially reconstructed.