Gilardoni has always had at heart the field of cultural heritage, born from the passion of our Arturo Gilardoni. Already 50 years ago, in the seventies, he designed a specific system for this type of investigation, the ART GIL. During these years the X-ray technique finds application in different fields that accompany the development and needs of society and the world.
We also wanted to experiment with innovative and revolutionary analyses for the artistic field, such as multi energetic analysis.
Concretely, we’ve done a tomography analysis (similar to a CT scan), a three-dimensional X-ray reconstruction using a microfocus tomograph. As for X-rays, we can define it as a very thorough study and a completely revolutionary approach.
The drawing is exposed to X-rays to capture images (more than a thousand) at various angles in order to reconstruct the three-dimensional image. Working at very high resolution with lots of projections, the acquisition phase takes about an hour and a half!
It’s a challenge for us too: we’ve never done it and we’re happy to try
– DB-
During the day, we had the pleasure to meet and discuss with Prof. Rolando Bellini, historian of art, great connoisseur and enthusiast of Michelangelo and Leonardo. For a year he has been carrying out an in-depth study of the Portrait of Lecco to see if, in fact, it can be attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci.
Prof Bellini explains to us: “We certainly hope that these tests may allow us to discover some circumstantial elements. We are certain that it is the circle of Leonardo, this is certain and also ascertained by other scholars, but at this point we must bring up a name. The problem is this: which name is more plausible and how do I propose it? This plausibility is obtained through solutions that must come from the work”.
Thanks to these new analyses, perhaps we could see something that we have not yet seen and that the human eye cannot see.
X-rays for arts: non destructive testing
As Prof. Bellini says, the drawing of the portrait is a work that has suffered a lot in the past, have been carried out too aggressive restorations, which have given it an opacity of reading.
Nevertheless, it remains such a peculiar drawing that it cannot fail to raise questions.
Leonardo is this, that’s why he’s so charming.
-RB-