Digital radiography reveals hidden details of “Paolo e Francesca” by Previati

The painting, exposed in Ferrara in the exhibition “STATI D’ANIMO. Arte e psiche tra Previati e Boccioni” was analyzed with non-invasive techniques by a team of researchers of CHNet and University of Ferrara. The work will be presented during the Salone Internazionale del Restauro di Ferrara (march 21st-23rd) and at the scientific congress InArt (march 26th-29th) in Parma.

A team of researchers of CHNet and University of Ferrara performed a digital radiography of the painting “Paolo e Francesca” by Gaetano Previati, one of the artist’s most famous pieces, at the moment exposed in the exhibition “Stati d’animo – Arte e Psiche tra Previati e Boccioni” in the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. The instrumentation exploited is a scanner for in-situ radiography developed by the INFN division and the University of Ferrara. The results of the analysis will be presented this week during the Salone internazionale del Restauro.

The acquired digital radiographies, more than one thousand, revealed the first version of the painting, with Francesca’s head reclined backwards. The change is particularly evident thanks to the radiopacity of the used pigments, which are still in the layer below the actual painted surface.

The analysis were performed in collaboration with a group of researchers of the Istituto Nazionale di Ottica of the National Research Council (CNR), who were involved in the infrared and ultraviolet diagnostics.