Study of objects of easel tempera painting using full-field time-domain optical coherence tomography system

Abstract

The application of time-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) to study of state of valuable painting objects is investigated. A description of a full-field optoelectronic system for determining the internal microstructure of inhomogeneous media with high resolution and speed is given. The Wiener adaptive filtering algorithm for dynamic processing of interferometric signals is used.

Examples of determining the features of the microstructure of an ancient object of easel tempera painting (the icon "Savior the Almighty", mid-19th century) are demonstrated. In particular, the thickness of the varnish layer, nature of the craquelure in it, morphology of the late recording of the author's layer, and the loss of the paint layer due to cracking are presented.

The obtained results demonstrate the capabilities of the developed OCT system for diagnosing the state of easel tempera painting objects, providing restorers with important information about the morphology of varnish layers, the nature of contamination, and damage at the micro level. The advantage of the OCT method is the non-destructive nature of the study, which is a key point in the restoration of unique monuments of ancient Russian art.

The work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Grant No. 19-79-10118) in part of development of the research method, laboratory sample of OCT system, and data processing algorithm. Also, the research was carried out with the support of a grant under the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 220 (Agreement No. 075-15-2021-593) in part of the obtained experimental results of the study of valuable object of easel tempera painting.

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Maxim A. Volynsky
ITMO University
Russia

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