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Analysis of a seventeenth-century panel painting by reflection terahertz time-domain imaging (THz-TDI): contribution of ultrafast optics to museum collections inspection

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Abstract

Terahertz time-domain imaging (THz-TDI) has been applied for nondestructive visualization of a hidden painting and other subsurface composition layers of a seventeenth-century panel painting belonging to the National Gallery of Denmark. Plan-type and cross-sectional scans realized by THz have been compared with images obtained by X-radiography, thus helping in a deep understanding of the strengths and limitations of this technique for art diagnostic purposes and in defining its rule among the other complementary investigation tools for nondestructive inspection of art pieces.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Conservation Department and The Centre for Art Technological Studies and Conservation—CATS—at the National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen, Denmark), for the fruitful collaboration during the study of A Garden in front of a Country Seat.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DTU Fotonik - Department of Photonics Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Corinna L. Koch Dandolo & Peter Uhd Jepsen

  2. Statens Museum for Kunst, 1307, København K, Denmark

    Troels Filtenborg & Jacob Skou-Hansen

Authors
  1. Corinna L. Koch Dandolo
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  2. Troels Filtenborg
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  3. Jacob Skou-Hansen
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  4. Peter Uhd Jepsen
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Correspondence to Corinna L. Koch Dandolo.

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Koch Dandolo, C.L., Filtenborg, T., Skou-Hansen, J. et al. Analysis of a seventeenth-century panel painting by reflection terahertz time-domain imaging (THz-TDI): contribution of ultrafast optics to museum collections inspection. Appl. Phys. A 121, 981–986 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-015-9303-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-015-9303-0

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