X-ray pictures. The secret meaning of some classic paintings (6 photos)

10.01.2017

Works by famous artists at auctions sometimes cost thousands and millions, and not in rubles. Naturally, scammers are tempted: canvas and paints themselves are inexpensive - you just need to pass off the canvas as the work of an old master and you can make millions from practically nothing. However, in our time, scammers need to deceive not only the instincts of art critics, but also devices that reveal all the ins and outs of a fake, even those that are hidden under layers of paint and not visible to the naked eye.

One of the places where you can check a painting for authenticity is the “Scientific Research Expertise named after P. M. Tretyakov” (NINE). “We process more than a hundred paintings and other works of art per month. About 50-60% turn out to be not genuine,” said Alexander Popov, director of the company.

The easiest way to fake paintings is refacing. To do this, they take an old, but not very valuable painting, erase the signature of the real artist and sign it with the name of the famous master. This, for example, is a popular method of faking Aivazovsky’s paintings - which of his colleagues and contemporaries did not paint the sea?

Another type of fakes are those that are created from scratch. To prevent a fake from being determined by the age of the canvas, scammers remove paint from old paintings and paint on the canvas again.

The third type is works erroneously attributed to one or another author. “This is mainly connected with all sorts of family legends. There is a picture hanging on the wall from the time of my great-grandfather; someone once decided that it was Polenov or Aivazovsky. No one forged it on purpose, it was just a mistake,” Popov explained.

How to detect a fake

When a painting is submitted for examination, it is first examined by a specialist who studies the author’s work. Some paintings are eliminated already at this stage. If there is a chance that the painting turns out to be genuine, the research continues.

Thus, refacing can be identified by examining the artist’s signature under a microscope. Over time, cracks form in the painting - craquelure. If the signature has already been applied to an old painting, the fresh paint of the signature flows into the cracks and this can be seen under a microscope.

Craquelure on the Mona Lisa. Photo: Wikipedia

You can see the “understanding” of a painting without spoiling it using X-rays, as well as in infrared and ultraviolet light. This makes it possible to identify preparatory drawings or traces of restoration.

For example, it is known that Aivazovsky, while working on a painting, usually drew a horizon line with a pencil. If a painting is attributed to Aivazovsky and such a line is found under a layer of paint, this is one of the arguments in favor of the authenticity of the painting. You can see such lines using an infrared camera. It reacts to graphite, which allows you to see the preparatory drawing and all sorts of half-erased pencil inscriptions.

Aivazovsky's painting "Black Sea".

“An important part of the study is comparing x-rays of the work under study with x-rays of works by the same artist, which are definitely authentic,” Popov said.

If the painting is fake, examining the layers hidden under the top layer of paint can help reveal the fake. This, for example, happened with a painting attributed to the artist Marevna, which was examined by the NINE.

The artist emigrated from Russia shortly before the revolution, lived in Paris, then in England. They tried to pass off the painting as Marevna’s work from the 1930s. However, an X-ray study revealed a Soviet poster under the still life with fragments of the inscription “Peace. Work. May" and pigeons. It is unlikely that a European artist could have painted a picture on a Soviet poster.

Radiographs of a painting attributed to Marevna. Photo: “Attic”

What are paints made of?

A fake can also be identified by the composition of the paints. There are reference books that indicate when which paint was released. Thanks to this, you can at least roughly determine when the picture was painted.

“There is an interesting story that helped us date several paintings. In 1921, they stopped producing a paint called “Indian yellow”. It was obtained from the urine of cows that were fed mango leaves. They are poisonous to cows, and in the end its release was banned as too cruel,” said Alexander Popov.

You can determine what colors a painting is painted with using spectroscopy. For example, you can find out a list of all the chemical elements that make up a sample, but without indicating their quantity.

“Let our sample consist of titanium (Ti) and oxygen (O). But if you only know a list of elements, it is almost impossible to “make” a real substance out of them,” explained Irina Balakhnina, an employee of the Laboratory of Laser Diagnostics of Biomolecules and Photonics Methods in the Study of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Physics Faculty of Moscow State University.

You can use spectroscopy to find out how many elements are contained in a sample. “Let us have one Ti and two O. It turns out TiO2. This substance is titanium dioxide IV. Or we could get Ti2O5 - titanium oxide V. But even this is not enough (especially if there are a lot of elements). You need to know how these elements are related to each other. That is, to understand what connections there are and how they are located among themselves,” the scientist said.

Finally, information can be obtained about the structures of molecules and the bonds of atoms within them. The sample under study (TiO2) can appear in one of three crystal structures: rutile, anatase or brookite. Their composition is the same, but the Ti - O bond can be located differently in space. Therefore, their spectra will be very different from each other.

“Thanks to this, we can easily determine what kind of substance is in front of us. For example, it turned out to be rutile. What can this give us? Titanium oxide is titanium white, a commonly found white paint. It is known that until the 1940s, titanium white was produced in a crystalline modification - anatase. And then mostly in the form of rutile. We can identify a fake if we took a sample from a painting that “should be from the 18th century,” Balakhnina explained.

Vibrational spectroscopy is used to analyze works of art. “To obtain data on vibrations, there are two main methods based on different physical effects - Raman spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. We do both in the laboratory,” said the researcher.

Besides art examination, vibrational spectroscopy has a huge number of applications. Thus, the use of infrared spectroscopy data when observing stars makes it possible to determine the speed of their movement, distance and chemical composition. On the TGO orbital module of the ExoMars project, IR spectrometers are designed to study the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere.

On Earth, vibrational spectroscopy is also often used in forensic science, as it can detect drugs, explosives, body fluids and other substances even in microscopic quantities.

To analyze the composition of paints, NINE uses an X-ray fluorescent analyzer, which allows one to determine the composition of paints in a painting in minutes.

“There are thousands of databases of vibrational spectra of various substances. By comparing the spectrum of the sample with the spectra from the base, you can determine the composition of any paint. In addition to the pigment - powder - the paint includes a binder base. In watercolors it is water, in oil paints it is oil: from vegetable to synthetic. The paint spectrum consists of a pigment spectrum and an oil spectrum. Each oil also has its own spectrum,” said Balakhnina.

When drying, the molecular composition of the oil changes, so the spectrum also changes, but, unfortunately, it is impossible to determine from the spectrum how long the oil has been drying, and thus accurately dating the painting. Laboratory staff analyzed the IR spectra of zinc white in more than two hundred paintings painted at different times, the authenticity of which was beyond doubt. However, it turned out that it was impossible to construct a curve of the dependence of the spectrum on the age of the painting, because drying is affected not only by time, but also by the storage conditions of the paintings (temperature, humidity, etc.).

Where do fakes come from?

“Many fake paintings come from Western auctions. In addition to the well-known Sotheby’s and Christie’s, there are a huge number of local auctions in Europe and America,” explained Popov.

There is no examination at such auctions, and return rules are often specific. For example, if an item turns out to be counterfeit, it will be accepted back only within a week, or even not accepted at all. Participation in such auctions is the lot of professionals. An amateur at such an event has every chance of buying a fake.

“The collection of museums such as the Tretyakov Gallery is often formed from old collections that were collected during the artists’ lifetime. Therefore, in principle, there cannot be fake things there,” Popov said.

Counterfeits or misattributed items most often end up in museums as gifts. Some collector decides to donate the paintings he has collected to the museum. They came to him from various sources, and some of them may be fake or erroneously attributed to famous artists. The museum cannot refuse part of the collection, saying: “Thank you for this, but we don’t need that,” for purely human reasons.

“Then museum workers conduct research and reject things that are not worth exhibiting. All this is stored somewhere in the funds, because everyone understands everything, but it is impossible to throw them away. Moreover, museums usually do not have room for a huge number of impeccably authentic paintings and often only 5% of the entire collection is exhibited,” Popov explained.
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Let's take a closer look at several classic paintings and find out what secrets they really hide. Quite interesting, although some of these pictures are really scary.

Whale in Hendrik van Antonissen's "Beach Scene"

After a painting by a 17th-century Dutch artist ended up in a public museum, its owner noticed something unusual about it. Why are so many people suddenly on the beach for no apparent reason? While removing the first layer of the painting, the truth came out. In fact, the artist originally painted a whale carcass on the beach, which was later painted over. Scientists believe that it was painted over for aesthetic purposes. Not many people would want to have a painting of a dead whale in their home.

Hidden figure in Pablo Picasso's painting "The Old Guitarist"

Picasso had a very difficult period in his life when he did not even have money for new canvases, so he had to paint new paintings on top of the old ones, repainting them many times. This was the case with the old guitarist.

If you look at the painting very carefully, you can see the outlines of another person. X-rays showed that it was previously a painting depicting a woman with a child in the countryside

The mysterious disappearance of the Roman king

The portrait "Jacques Marquet, Baron de Montbreton de Norvin" by an artist named Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres is one of the most prominent representatives of political pentimento. On this canvas you can see a portrait of the chief of police of Rome, but earlier something else was written on this canvas.
Scientists believe that after the conquest of Rome by Napoleon, this canvas featured a bust of Napoleon’s son, whom he himself proclaimed king of Rome. But after Napoleon was defeated, the bust of his son was successfully painted over

Dead baby or basket of potatoes?

You can see in the painting by the French artist Jean-François Millet called "L" Angelus" from 1859, two peasants who stand in the middle of a field and mournfully look at a basket of potatoes. However, when the painting was studied using X-rays, it turned out that before In place of the basket was a small coffin with a small child.
The X-ray was not taken by chance. Salvador Dali insisted on x-rays, claiming that the painting depicted a funeral scene. In the end, the Louvre reluctantly x-rayed the painting, and Salvador Dali's premonition was justified

The painting "Preparing the Bride" is not what it seems

The painting "Preparing the Bride" is actually an unfinished painting. This painting was part of a series depicting the traditions of French rural life by Gustave Courbet. It was painted in the mid-1800s and acquired by the museum in 1929.
In 1960, the painting was studied using X-rays and what scientists discovered shocked them. The painting originally depicted a funeral scene, and the woman in the center of the painting was dead.

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Radiography of a painting or the history of one portrait

An example of how complex the restoration of paintings is and requiring the involvement of specialists of various specializations is clearly demonstrated by the work with one of the paintings belonging to school No. 206 in St. Petersburg. The reason for turning to specialists for help - employees of the St. Petersburg State Academy of Arts and Industry - was damage to the canvas. According to the regulations, during the restoration the following work is carried out:

• research (both to assess the artistic value and to obtain objective data on the structure of the paint layers, the facts of restoration and other work on the painting);
• conservation;
• restoration itself - restoration of the canvas;
• storage - providing conditions under which the aging of canvas materials and paints slows down as much as possible.

X-ray pictures in the study

The study involves both a visual examination (carried out by a restorer) and special types of filming. To diagnose damage, obtain data on the structure and number of layers of the canvas, obtain information that can help in determining the authorship, and methods for restoring the painting, the following are used:

• shooting in UV and IR rays;
• spectral analysis;
• X-ray photography.

The complex of research makes it possible to restore the history of the painting. Revealing hidden layers of paint without damaging later ones is one of the tasks that radiography of paintings solves.

How radiography of a painting helped find an unknown portrait

In the case of working with a painting from School No. 206 in St. Petersburg, an x-ray of the painting not only confirmed the assumption of a restoration specialist about the second (hidden) image, but also made it possible to identify its author. And subsequently, both paintings were restored - in a little more than three years.

The subject of the canvas is V.I. Lenin against the backdrop of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Damage - through ruptures - was only in the lower part of the picture. They attracted the attention of a restorer, who suggested that a layer of paint on the back of the canvas could hide an independent image.

What was hidden by the layer of water-soluble gray-white paint on the back of the canvas was revealed by an X-ray of the painting. The picture showed a portrait of Nicholas II and the signature of the author - Ilya Galkin. Among his works were other portraits of the last emperor of the Russian Empire and members of the imperial family (in particular, portraits of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Maria Feodorovna, the Dowager Empress, mother of the sovereign), created in the last decade of the 19th century. The exact date of painting the portrait is 1896: the painting was commissioned by the Petrovsky Commercial School, which later became the 206th school: first in Leningrad, and then in St. Petersburg. The portrait of V.I. Lenin on a canvas 1.8 by 2.7 meters was created approximately 28 years later - in 1924. The famous painter and graphic artist Vladislav Matveevich Izmailovich, a graduate of the Central School of Technical Drawing of Baron A. L. Stieglitz (later - the state art and industrial academy of the same name) was supposed to paint a new portrait on top of the portrait by Ilya Galkin. However, the artist acted in his own way - hiding the painting of 1896, and the portrait of V.I. Lenin was written on the back of the canvas.

One of the most famous paintings in the world - the portrait of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci - never ceases to interest researchers.

In 2015, the Frenchman Pascal Cotte reported the results of studying the painting using his own proprietary methodology. He used the so-called layer amplification method: a bright light is directed onto the canvas several times, and the camera takes pictures, recording the reflected rays. After this, by analyzing the resulting images, you can study all the layers of paint.

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• Daniel Karmann

According to the researcher, under the portrait that is visible, there is another one hidden - and there is no smile on it: Kott was able to see a larger head, nose and hands. Moreover, he stated that there are more than two layers in the picture, and supposedly in one of the first versions you can also see the Virgin Mary.

Researchers at the Louvre, where the portrait is kept, have not commented on the alleged discovery. Other researchers have expressed doubts about Kott's findings. They are inclined to believe that there were no fundamentally different images on the canvas; the Frenchman simply managed to consider the different stages of work on one portrait. So, da Vinci, who painted a painting to order, could change it at will or at the request of the customer.

Portrait under flowers

At the end of the 19th century, Vincent Van Gogh painted the famous painting “A Patch of Grass.” Surprisingly, it also revealed an earlier layer of paint under the lush greenery.

• Wikimedia / ARTinvestment.RU

It turned out that the portrait of a woman, made in brown and red tones, was the first to appear on canvas. This incident hardly raised any surprise among scientists: it is known that Van Gogh was not recognized during his lifetime and, due to financial difficulties, often painted new paintings on top of old ones.

From an enchanted pose to philosophical motives

Belgian artist Rene Magritte's painting "The Enchanted Pose", painted in 1927, was considered lost five years later. Much later, an employee of the museum in Norfolk carried out a proper check before sending the painting “Man’s Lot” to the exhibition. On the edge of the canvas she noticed paint that did not fit into the overall color scheme. Then X-rays came to the rescue - thanks to it, researchers often determine what is under the top layer of the picture.

As it turned out, “The Human Lot” was written on top of one of the fragments of “The Enchanted Pose” - the creator cut it into four parts, and three of them have been discovered today. Art critics find consolation in the fact that, at least, Magritte did not simply destroy his creation, but painted several more works on its remains that were worthy of public attention. The sad thing is that a partially found work of art cannot be separated from later works. The reasons why the artist decided to deal with his painting also remain a mystery.

What's hidden in the Black Square?

Art historians at the Tretyakov Gallery have found hidden images under one of the most recognizable paintings in the world - “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich. The artist hid the inscription under black paint. It was deciphered as “battle of the blacks at night.” As for the painting, which Malevich probably first tried to create, what was painted on it was able to be partially restored. The earliest and most thorough layer of paint compared to later ones represents a work that, according to researchers, is close to the author’s cubo-futuristic works.

• RIA Novosti

It should be noted that at first the picture was much brighter than the final version. The painted image was discovered back in the early 1990s. At the same time, quite a lot of methods were used that made it possible to draw such conclusions. The painting was studied in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum, macro photography and X-ray photography was carried out, and the pigment was analyzed using a microscope. Nothing is known about the reasons that prompted the author to create a black square on this particular canvas. The main versions of art historians boil down to the fact that in the process of work the artist’s plan gradually changed.

Continuous transformations

Individual elements in the paintings changed no less frequently. For example, the story of one of Raphael’s paintings is truly amazing.

• Wikimedia

Around 1506, Raphael Santi painted a portrait of a girl with a dog in her arms. And then, many years later, he painted a unicorn on top of the dog (scientists saw the dog by X-raying the picture). But the main thing is this painting, known as “The Lady with the Unicorn”, previously generally called “St. Catherine of Alexandria”. The fact is that after the death of Raphael, other artists added the attributes of a martyr to the “lady” and provided her with a cloak. It was only in the 20th century that scientists removed the finished layer and restored the painting. True, the unicorn remained in the hands of the “lady”: according to experts, attempts to get to the “original” dog are very risky and can lead to damage to the work of art.

Modern art historians are increasingly resorting to studying paintings by old masters using fluoroscopy, using the well-known property of lead white: to block x-rays. An X-ray image obtained by transilluminating a particular painting can show compositional changes made by the artist, alterations of individual details of the painting, corrected errors and other features of the artist’s technical process.

Using this method, it was established, for example, that the Dutch painter Rembrandt, when creating “Self-Portrait” in 1665, initially made a mistake by giving a mirror image of himself on the canvas: he had a brush in his left hand and a palette in his right. The artist noticed this only after the painting was completely finished. Having covered his hands with a thick layer of paint on the canvas, he painted them again. Now the brush was in the right hand, and the palette in the left.

Second example. The Flemish painter Rubens (1606-1669) changed the original composition of his painting "Portrait of Francesco Gonzaga" (kept in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna) after it was completed. Compositional changes are clearly visible in the above x-ray.

Also, quite recently, with the help of X-rays, it was possible to find out which of the two paintings by the artist Van Dyck “Saint Jerome and the Angel” (on the title of the article) is genuine, and which is just a copy (albeit an excellent one).

P.S. Perfume says: And when studying some old paintings, you can be surprised to discover that their paints contain the same components as maxilift cosmetics. Maybe this is the secret of the quality and durability of this cosmetics? By the way,