Digital image analysis of patterns in canvas and paper significantly improves the dating and attribution of European artworks, research by art historian Rick Johnson shows. ‘By combining computational techniques with established stylistic, material and documentary methods, we can now determine more precisely when and by whom artworks were created.’
Johnson’s research focused on exploiting recurring patterns in art supports, such as weave structures in canvas and watermarks in paper. ‘The central question was whether these digital analytical methods could strengthen traditional approaches to art connoisseurship, says Johnson.
‘By using carefully crafted visualisations of thread density in canvas, we can demonstrate that paintings originate from the same roll of fabric. Combined with stylistic, material and documentary evidence, this provides compelling support for dating and attribution.’
New insights into Old Masters and Dutch drawings
The method was applied to works by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Diego Velázquez, Nicolas Poussin and Johannes Vermeer.
It also proved effective for seventeenth-century Dutch drawings,’ Johnson explains. ‘Using specially developed software, watermarks can be digitally overlaid with precision, helping to refine dating. As a result, drawings by Rembrandt van Rijn and his pupils have been dated more accurately, while broad date ranges for lesser-studied artists have been significantly narrowed.’
Museum collections and wide applicabilit
Johnson made use of image material from collections held by European and American museums, including radiographs of paintings and images of watermarks from both digital and printed catalogues. In some cases, a specially developed system was used to capture and process watermark images.
‘The digital techniques developed are widely applicable to artworks from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, including paintings on canvas as well as drawings, prints and manuscripts on paper,’ Johnson states. ‘The findings have not only enhanced existing analyses but have also led to the development of more advanced computational methods within art history.’
Photo: Rembrandt, resting lion. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam