Art Conservation
r/ArtConservation
Hi everyone - I've been contacted by someone who has a very old desk and they want to use infrared photography to try and see if there is any writing beneath a layer of varnish to indicate it's age or origin. There is writing visible which indicates the date of repairs done and it was recommended by an art curator that more information might be written beneath the varnish from before any repairs were done.
I'm an infrared photographer, but this is a new application for me. As I understand it, many bands of infrared can be used for these purposes but my equipment only works in the near-infrared spectrum. This article from the smithsonian mentions a couple different wavelengths that are used. I'm able to do the first one mentioned.
I'm hoping someone can tell me when one would use one of these over the other. I haven't been able to find much info in it. I'm going to go ahead and go in with my infrared camera that can see roughly up to 900nm wavelength but if that doesn't work, I'm hesitant to go any further without knowing more about the process and its limitations.
Thank you!
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