Using Mathematics to Repair a Masterpiece (2016)

In the 15th century the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck created the Ghent Altarpiece, a grand work of art that consists of 12 panels, eight of them connected by hinged shutters. The same technical analysis can also be applied in the reverse direction: After fine-tuning the digital image manipulations to make the transition from new to old, we also wanted to take high-resolution images of the existing panels and map their old, aged colors to corresponding “freshly painted” versions, thus rejuvenating the 14th-century work. In the Ghent crack-removal work, X-ray images of the altarpiece had proven essential, so we asked the NCMA conservators for X-ray photos of the St. John Altarpiece panels.

Source: www.quantamagazine.org