20 versions of "fakes" without the original's true appearance? Scientific restoration reveals the mystery of the masterpiece

The exhibition "Frankness and Reality: The Artistic World of Caravaggio" is currently on display at the National Museum of China. The only protagonist of the exhibition is the late masterpiece of Italian painter Caravaggio, "Mary Magdalene in Drunkenness".

In the history of art, "Mary Magdalene in Drunkenness" is a mystery. There are nearly 20 copies of it, but the original has never been seen. It was not until 2014 that the original, which had disappeared for more than 400 years, was discovered. The famous restoration expert Cinzia Pasquali and her team once authenticated and restored this legendary painting. The whole process took half a year. During this period, they used scientific methods to uncover the secrets of the painting.

"In my curatorial career, it is very rare to have an exhibition centered on an authentic work." Zhuge Yingliang, deputy researcher at the National Museum of China and exhibition curator, hopes that the audience can slow down here and feel this great and legendary work.

Caravaggio is seen as a bridge between the Renaissance and the Baroque era. In this painting, Mary Magdalene is dressed in a white robe and red cape. Her blonde hair falls like a heavy curtain over her shoulders and chest, and her skin is pale. Strong shadows dominate the painting, with tears streaming down her cheeks and chin, and her ears looming in the carefully designed light.

Infrared false color photography is a non-destructive technique that plays a key role in painting analysis and diagnosis. Each pigment in a painting has a unique chemical composition, and this method can be used to identify individual pigments, detect overpainting, and distinguish different layers of paint.

Using this technique, the restoration team discovered that the painter used ochre and varnish on the red cloak and pink skin tones, as well as lead white (mainly used for skin and white shirt), yellow ochre (used for hair), as well as earth tones, black, and a small amount of green pigment for shadows and background.

Ultraviolet light testing revealed a layer of varnish on the surface of the painting, which may have been applied unevenly with a brush or pad. The varnish appears yellow to the naked eye and is likely a natural resin. The restoration team speculates that the varnish was applied to the work relatively recently.

Infrared reflectography is a method of taking images using infrared light to reveal hidden drawings and layers beneath the surface of a painting, providing relevant information about the artist's creative process and subsequent modifications.

Mary Magdalene's body now appears enveloped in darkness, but when the painting was first made, she was lying on the rocks in the cave, and the opening in the upper left corner of the painting was dotted with leaves and greenery. Later, these creations were covered up by the painter with dark brushstrokes.

This is consistent with historical records: Caravaggio was famous for not using sketches to prepare his works, preferring to color directly on the canvas, often painting directly on the spot.

Before the painting can be restored, it needs to be cleaned. Cinzia said that cleaning is one of the most delicate and risky operations in art restoration. If different materials are used in the work, or the same material but with different degrees of aging, there will be differences in solubility. Cleaning is to dissolve the substances that need to be removed based on the difference in solubility. The restoration team conducted cleaning tests on the painting to determine the solubility of the materials to be cleaned, and also determined the sensitivity of the existing materials to solvents to ensure that the cleaning solvents will not damage the surface of the painting.

An innovative work in this restoration was to try to reduce surface deformations by tensioning the canvas. After removing the canvas from its frame, the restorers used a temporary frame equipped with tensioning elastic straps placed every 10 cm around the circumference of the canvas and between it and the frame, allowing for a controlled, gradual tensioning that corrected any deformations.

After processing the canvas support layer, the restoration work entered the stage of reintegration of the painting layer.

Reintegration is the final stage of restoration and the aesthetic presentation of the painting. By filling in the gaps and reintegrating these gapped areas, the integrity of the work is restored and the visual readability is enhanced.

Finally, the work is protected from external factors by a coat of varnish, carefully selected for its high compatibility with the original material.

It can be said that the restoration process of "Mary Magdalene in the Intoxication" combines technical precision with artistic sensitivity. Cinzia said that modern restoration does not pursue finality, and their restoration is also completely reversible.

Scientific and technological means also play an important role in revealing the value and protecting and restoring ancient Chinese calligraphy and painting works. Through the analysis of fibers, the types and materials of the carriers of calligraphy and painting, including paper and silk, can be clarified; the element distribution imaging function of the large-format X-ray fluorescence scanning imager can be used to obtain the surface pigment composition information in calligraphy and painting works intuitively and non-destructively, and the spatial distribution and content changes of the pigments can also be obtained. Through light-transmitting photography, the mounting conditions of the name paper and backing paper of calligraphy and painting, as well as the repair traces of reinforcement and patching by predecessors, can be observed, which can assist the restoration personnel in understanding the internal state of calligraphy and painting...

Zhuge Yingliang said that the importance of art restoration lies not only in the preservation of the material form, but also in providing a valuable opportunity to deeply explore the intrinsic value of the artwork. These protection and restoration works have broadened the connotation and extension of the artwork, revitalized the essence of the artist's thoughts, and have very important research value and cultural significance. Zhang Gailun