Artificial Intelligence sheds light on Raphael’s painting technique

A research team from Cnr-Ispc has developed a new methodology based on Artificial Intelligence to examine and assemble large quantities of data generated by X-ray spectroscopic techniques applied to paintings quickly and accurately. The method was tested on two fragments of the Baronci Altarpiece by Raphael Sanzio, preserved in Naples at the Capodimonte Museum. The study is published in ‘Science Advances’.

RGB composition of the distribution of mercury (red), copper (blue) and iron (green) obtained from the XRF scan of a detail of the face of the fragment representing the Eternal Father.

In a recent study published in Science Advances, a group of researchers from the Institute of Cultural Heritage Sciences of the National Research Council (Cnr-Ispc) has introduced an innovative method, based on artificial intelligence, for the analysis of spectral data obtained through Macro X-ray Fluorescence (MA-XRF) technique applied to the study of paintings.

The new approach was applied, as a pilot case, to the MA-XRF data of two surviving fragments of the Baronci Altarpiece painted by Raphael in the 16th century and exhibited at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. In recent years, technological advances in non-invasive imaging…