In 1975, I met in Florence a professor, Carlo Pedretti, my former professor of art history, and today a world-renowned scholar of Leonardo da Vinci. Well, he asked me if I could find some technological way to unfold a five-centuries-old mystery related to a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, the "Battle of Anghiari," which is supposed to be located in the Hall of the 500 in Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence. Well, in the mid-'70s, there were not great opportunities for a bioengineer like me, especially in Italy, and so I decided, with some researchers from the United States and the University of Florence, to start probing the murals decorated by Vasari on the long walls of the Hall of the 500 searching for the lost Leonardo.
Leta 1975 sem v Firencah srečal profesorja Carla Pedrettija, mojega bivšega profesorja umetnostne zgodovine in danes svetovno znanega strokovnjaka za Leonarda da Vincija. Vprašal me je, če bi lahko poiskal kakšno tehnologijo, s katero bi razrešili petstoletno skrivnost izgubljene mojstrovine Leonarda da Vincija "Bitka pri Anghiariju", ki naj bi se nahajala v v Firencah, v Dvorani 15. stoletja [Salone del Cinquecento] v Palazzo Vecchiu. Sredi 70-ih let prejšnjega stoletja velikih priložnosti za bioinženirja, kakršen sem bil sam, ni bilo, zlasti ne v Italiji, zato smo se z nekaterimi raziskovalci iz ZDA in Univerzo v Firencah odločili, da bomo v zidove ke države nad Milanom, krasila pa naj bi steno dvorane Salone dei Cinquecento, ki jih je poslikal Vasari, izvrtali luknjice in vanje vstavili sonde, s katerimi bi iskali izgubljeno Leonardovo fresko.
Unfortunately, at that time we did not know that that was not exactly where we should be looking, because we had to go much deeper in, and so the research came to a halt, and it was only taken up in 2000 thanks to the interest and the enthusiasm of the Guinness family. Well, this time, we focused on trying to reconstruct the way the Hall of the 500 was before the remodeling, and the so-called Sala Grande, which was built in 1494, and to find out the original doors, windows, and in order to do that, we first created a 3D model, and then, with thermography, we went on to discover hidden windows. These are the original windows of the hall of the Sala Grande. We also found out about the height of the ceiling, and we managed to reconstruct, therefore, all the layout of this original hall the way it was before there came Vasari, and restructured the whole thing, including a staircase that was very important in order to precisely place "The Battle of Anghiari" on a specific area of one of the two walls.
Na žalost takrat nismo vedeli, da nismo iskali na pravem mestu, saj bi morali priti veliko globlje, zato se je raziskovanje ustavilo. Ponovno je oživelo šele leta 2000, zahvaljujoč interesu in navdušenju družine Guiness. Tokrat smo se osredotočili na rekonstrukcijo zidu ke države nad Milanom, krasila pa naj bi steno dvorane Salone dei Cinquecento, kakršen je bil pred prenovo, in zidu Velike dvorane, ki je bila zgrajena leta 1494 in tako najti prvotna vrata in okna. V ta namen smo najprej izdelali 3D model zidu, nato pa s pomočjo termografije odkrivali skrita okna. To so originalna okna Velike dvorane. Ugotovili smo tudi višino stropa zaradi česar je bila možna tudi celotna rekonstrukcija prvotne dvorane, kakršna je bila pred Vasarijem. Prenovili smo vse, vključno s stopniščem, kar je bilo ključno za natančno umestitev freske "Bitka pri Anghiariju" na določeno mesto na enem od obeh zidov.
Well, we also learned that Vasari, who was commissioned to remodel the Hall of the 500 between 1560 and 1574 by the Grand Duke Cosimo I of the Medici family, we have at least two instances when he saved masterpieces specifically by placing a brick wall in front of it and leaving a small air gap. One that we [see] here, Masaccio, the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, so we just said, well maybe, Visari has done something like that in the case of this great work of art by Leonardo, since he was a great admirer of Leonardo da Vinci.
Ugotovili smo tudi, da je Vasari, ki je med 1560 in 1574 Salone dei Cinquecento prenavljal po naročilu vojvoda Cosima I iz družine Medici, vsaj dvakrat shranil mojstrovine tako, da jih je prednje nazidal zid in pri tem pustil majhno zračno odprtino. Tu vidimo Masaccijevo "Sveto trojico" v cerkvi Santa Maria Novella v Firencah. Zato smo pomislili, da je mogoče Vasari kaj takega storil tudi v primeru te velike Leonardove umetnine -- vemo namreč, da je bil velik občudovalec Leonarda da Vincija.
And so we built some very sophisticated radio antennas just for probing both walls and searching for an air gap. And we did find many on the right panel of the east wall, an air gap, and that's where we believe "The Battle of Anghiari," or at least the part that we know has been painted, which is called "The Fight for the Standard," should be located.
Zato smo razvili napredne radarske antene zgolj za sondiranje obeh zidov in iskanje zračne odprtine. In res smo pretežno na desni plošči vzhodnega zidu našli zračno odprtino. In tam se po našem mnenju nahaja "Bitka pri Anghiariju", ali vsaj njen poslikan del, ki se imenuje "Bitka za standard".
Well, from there, unfortunately, in 2004, the project came to a halt. Many political reasons. So I decided to go back to my alma mater, and, at the University of California, San Diego, and I proposed to open up a research center for engineering sciences for cultural heritage. And in 2007, we created CISA3 as a research center for cultural heritage, specifically art, architecture and archaeology. So students started to flow in, and we started to build technologies, because that's basically what we also needed in order to move forward and go and do fieldwork.
No, takrat se je na žalost leta 2004 projekt ustavil. Zaradi mnogo političnih razlogov. Zato sem se napotil nazaj na svojo matično univerzo, in tam, na kalifornijski univerzi v San Diegu predlagal, da se odpre raziskovalni center za tehnične znanosti in kulturno dediščino. Leta 2007 smo tako odprli raziskovalni center CISA3 za kulturno dediščino s specifičnim poudarkom na umetnosti, arhitekturi in arheologiji. Študentov je bilo vedno več, začeli smo razvijati tehnologije, saj je to osnova, ki smo jo potrebovali za napredek in izvajanje dela na terenu.
We came back in the Hall of the 500 in 2011, and this time, with a great group of students, and my colleague, Professor Falko Kuester, who is now the director at CISA3, and we came back just since we knew already where to look for to find out if there was still something left. Well, we were confined though, limited, I should rather say, for several reasons that it's not worth explaining, to endoscopy only, of the many other options we had, and with a 4mm camera attached to it, we were successful in documenting and taking some fragments of what it turns out to be a reddish color, black color, and there is some beige fragments that later on we ran a much more sophisticated exams, XRF, X-ray diffraction, and the results are very positive so far. It seems to indicate that indeed we have found some pigments, and since we know for sure that no other artist has painted on that wall before Vasari came in about 60 years later, well, those pigments are therefore firmly related to mural painting and most likely to Leonardo.
V Salone dei Cinquecento smo se vrnili leta 2011, tokrat z veliko skupino študentov in z mojim kolegom profesorjem Falkom Kuesterjem, ki je zdaj direktor raziskovalnega centra CISA3. Ko smo prišli nazaj, smo vedeli, kje iskati, da bomo videli, če je še kaj ostalo. No, pri delu smo bili omejeni, - zaradi več razlogov, ki jih ni vredno razlagati - izmed vseh možnosti zgolj na metodo z endoskopijo. Pri endoskopiji smo uporabljali smo 4 mm kamero in uspešno dokumentirali in zajeli nekaj fragmentov barve, ki se je izkazala za rdečkasto, črno, kasneje smo našli tudi nekaj fragmentov bež barve. Kasneje smo lahko izvedli veliko bolj kompleksne raziskave - rentgensko fluorescentno (XRF) in rentgensko presevno (XRD) tomografijo. Doslej smo imeli res zelo pozitivne rezultate, ki kažejo na to, da smo zares našli nekaj pigmentov. In ker zagotovo vemo, da noben drug umetnik ni slikal na ta zid razen Vasarija, ki pride 60 let kasneje, smo sklepali, da so ti pigmenti del zidne poslikave, torej najverjetneje pripadajo Leonardu.
Well, we are searching for the highest and highly praised work of art ever achieved by mankind. As a matter of fact, this is by far the most important commission that Leonardo has ever had, and for doing this great masterpiece, he was named the number one artist influence at the time.
Iščemo torej zelo cenjeno umetnino, ki jo je kadar koli ustvaril človek. Pravzaprav je bilo naročilo zanjo najpomembnejše od vseh, ki jih je Leonardo kadar koli dobil. Ko je mojstrovino dokončal, je bil proglašen za najvplivnejšega umetnika tiste dobe.
I had also had the privilege since the last 37 years to work on several masterpieces as you can see behind me, but basically to do what? Well, to assess, for example, the state of conservation. See here the face of the Madonna of the Chair that when just shining a UV light on it you suddenly see another, different lady, aged lady, I should rather say. There is a lot of varnish still sitting there, several retouches, and some over cleaning. It becomes very visible.
Tudi sam sem imel čast zadnjih 37 let. delati z več mojstrovinami, kot vidite v ozadju - Kaj sem v osnovi počel z njimi? Na primer ugotavljal sem stanje ohranjenosti. Tu vidite obraz "Marije na stolu". V trenutku, ko jo izpostavimo UV svetlobi, se nenadoma prikaže še ena, drugačna ženska, ki deluje postarana, moram reči. Še vedno je vidnega precej laka, kar nekaj retuširanj in nekaj čiščenja. A postane zelo vidna.
But also, technology has helped to write new pages of our history, or at least to update pages of our histories. For example, the "Lady with the Unicorn," another painting by Rafael, well, you see the unicorn. A lot has been said and written about the unicorn, but if you take an X-ray of the unicorn, it becomes a puppy dog. And — (Laughter) — no problem, but, unfortunately, continuing with the scientific examination of this painting came out that Rafael did not paint the unicorn, did not paint the puppy dog, actually left the painting unfinished, so all this writing about the exotic symbol of the unicorn — (Laughter) — unfortunately, is not very reliable. (Laughter)
Tehnologija pa nam pomaga pisati tudi nova poglavja zgodovine, ali vsaj njihove posodobitve. Na primer, na sliki "Dama s samorogom", ki jo je prav tako naredil Rafael, vidite samoroga. Veliko je bilo povedanega in napisanega o tem samorogu, toda če ga gledate pod UV svetlobo, postane pasji mladiček. In - (smeh) - kar ni problematično. A na žalost so nadaljnje znanstvene raziskave te slike pokazale, da Rafael ni naslikal samoroga, ni naslikal psička, ampak je v resnici pustil sliko nedokončano. Skratka, vse pisanje o eksotični simboliki samoroga - (smeh) - na žalost ni zelo zanesljivo. (Smeh)
Well, also, authenticity. Just think for a moment if science really could move in the field of authenticity of works of art. There would be a cultural revolution to say the least, but also, I would say, a market revolution, let me add. Take this example: Otto Marseus, nice painting, which is "Still Life" at the Pitti Gallery, and just have an infrared camera peering through, and luckily for art historians, it just was confirmed that there is a signature of Otto Marseus. It even says when it was made and also the location. So that was a good result. Sometimes, it's not that good, and so, again, authenticity and science could go together and change the way, not attributions being made, but at least lay the ground for a more objective, or, I should rather say, less subjective attribution, as it is done today.
Pristnost -- ravno tako. Samo pomislite, da bi znanost res lahko posegala v raziskovanje pristnosti umetniških del. Prišlo bi najmanj do kulturne revolucije, in po mojem mnenju tudi do revolucije trga. Vzemimo tale primer - Lepa slika Otta Marseusa z naslovom "Tihožitje" v galeriji Pitti. Ravno smo jo pregledali z infrardečo kamero in na srečo umetnostnih zgodovinarjev je bilo potrjeno, da je podpis spodaj zares Marseusov. Zapisano je celo, kdaj je bil podpis narejen in kje. To je primer pozitivnega rezultata. Včasih pa temu ni tako. In zato bi lahko ugotavljanje pristnosti in znanost delali z roko v roki - ne pri samem pripisu avtorstva - ampak vsaj pri zagotavljanju temeljev za bolj objektivno, oziroma, da se bolje izrazim, manj subjektivno pripisovanje avtorstva, kakor se to počne danes.
But I would say the discovery that really caught my imagination, my admiration, is the incredibly vivid drawing under this layer, brown layer, of "The Adoration of the Magi." Here you see a handmade setting XYZ scanner with an infrared camera put on it, and just peering through this brown layer of this masterpiece to reveal what could have been underneath. Well, this happens to be the most important painting we have in Italy by Leonardo da Vinci, and look at the wonderful images of faces that nobody has seen for five centuries. Look at these portraits. They're magnificent. You see Leonardo at work. You see the geniality of his creation, right directly on the ground layer of the panel, and see this cool thing, finding, I should rather say, an elephant. (Laughter) Because of this elephant, over 70 new images came out, never seen for centuries. This was an epiphany. We came to understand and to prove that the brown coating that we see today was not done by Leonardo da Vinci, which left us only the other drawing that for five centuries we were not able to see, so thanks only to technology.
Odkritje, ki je res prevzelo mojo domišljijo in vzbudilo občudovanje, je nenavadno nazorna risba pod rjavo plastjo na sliki "Čaščenje treh kraljev". Tu vidite ročno izdelani komplet za XYZ skener in na njem infrardečo kamero, ki s svetlobo prebada rjavo plast te umetnine in razkriva, kaj bi lahko bilo spodaj. No, to je najpomembnejša slika Leonarda da Vincija, ki jo imamo v Italiji. Samo poglejte čudovite podobe obrazov, ki jih 5 stoletij nihče ni videl. Poglejte te portrete. Veličastni so. To je pravi Leonardo. Vidimo genialnost njegove stvaritve neposredno na osnovni plasti platna, poglejmo pa še tole super zadevo - kar odkritje, bi lahko rekli - to je slon. (Smeh) Zaradi tega slona je bilo odkritih še 70 novih podob, ki jih prej nismo opazili. To je bilo pravo razodetje. Dojeli in dokazali smo, da rjavi sloj, ki ga vidimo danes, ni bil delo Leonarda da Vincija, tako da nam je ostala samo spodnja risba, ki je pet stoletij sploh nismo mogli videti. Zahvalimo se lahko samo tehnologiji.
Well, the tablet. Well, we thought, well, if we all have this pleasure, this privilege to see all this, to find all these discoveries, what about for everybody else? So we thought of an augmented reality application using a tablet. Let me show you just simulating what we could be doing, any of us could be doing, in a museum environment. So let's say that we go to a museum with a tablet, okay? And we just aim the camera of the tablet to the painting that we are interested to see, like this. Okay? And I will just click on it, we pause, and now let me turn to you so the moment the image, or, I should say, the camera, has locked in the painting, then the images you just saw up there in the drawing are being loaded. And so, see. We can, as we said, we can zoom in. Then we can scroll. Okay? Let's go and find the elephant. So all we need is one finger. Just wipe off and we see the elephant. (Applause) (Applause) Okay? And then if we want, we can continue the scroll to find out, for example, on the staircase, the whole iconography is going to be changed. There are a lot of laymen reconstructing from the ruins of an old temple a new temple, and there are a lot of figures showing up. See?
Tablični računalnik. Takole smo razmišljali - če imamo mi ta privilegij, da vse to vidimo in odkrijemo, kaj pa vsi ostali? Domislili smo se aplikacije za nadgrajeno resničnost na tabličnih računalnikih. S simulacijo vam bom pokazal, kaj bi lahko vsi mi počeli z njo v muzejskih okoljih. Recimo, da se odpravimo v muzej s tabličnim računalnikom, ok? Kamero na tablici usmerimo v sliko, ki nas zanima -- takole. OK? Zdaj samo kliknem nanjo, počakam -- -- naj se obrnem proti vam. V trenutku ko kamera zazna sliko, se začnejo na tablico nalagati podobe, ki jih vidimo na sliki. Takole, poglejte. Kot sem povedal, zdaj lahko povečujemo in se pomikamo po njej. OK? Poskusimo najti slona. Vse, kar potrebujemo, je prst. Z njim samo zradirate en sloj z ekrana in prikaže se slon. (Aplavz) (Aplavz) Če želimo nadaljevati, se pomaknemo naprej, na primer na stopnišče, kjer se spremeni celotna ikonografija Tam je veliko navadnih ljudi, ki iz ruševin starega templja gradijo novega, zraven pa se pokaže še ogromno likov. Vidite?
This is not just a curiosity, because it changes not just the iconography as you see it, but the iconology, the meaning of the painting, and we believe this is a cool way, easy way, that everybody could have access to, to become more the protagonist of your own discovery, and not just be so passive about it, as we are when we walk through endless rooms of museums. (Applause)
Ne gre samo za zanimivost, saj ne spremeni samo ikonografije kot jo vidite, ampak ikonologijo, celoten pomen slike. Prepričani smo, da je to prijazen in enostaven način, s katerim vsak uporabnik lahko dobi dostop, da postane protagonist svojih odkrivanj in ne samo pasiven gledalec, ki se sprehaja v neštetih muzejskih sobah. (Aplavz)
Another concept is the digital clinical chart, which sounds very obvious if we were to talk about real patients, but when we talk about works of art, unfortunately, it's never been tapped as an idea. Well, we believe, again, that this should be the beginning, the very first step, to do real conservation, and allowing us to really explore and to understand everything related to the state of our conservation, the technique, materials, and also if, when, and why we should restore, or, rather, to intervene on the environment surrounding the painting.
Še en koncept je digitalna diagnostična karta, ki je zelo razumljiv, če bi govorili o dejanskih pacientih. A ko govorimo o umetnosti, žal ta ideja nikoli ni bila udejanjena. Prepričani smo, da je to šele začetek, prvi korak pravega ohranjanja umetniških del, ki nam omogoča raziskovanje in razumevanje kar je vezano na njihovo ohranjanje in varovanje - tehniko, materiale, pa tudi če, kdaj in zakaj naj restavriramo, oziroma posegamo v okolje slike.
Well, our vision is to rediscover the spirit of the Renaissance, create a new discipline where engineering for cultural heritage is actually a symbol of blending art and science together. We definitely need a new breed of engineers that will go out and do this kind of work and rediscover for us these values, these cultural values that we badly need, especially today.
Naša vizija je ponovno odkrivati renesančni duh, razviti novo disciplino, kjer bo inženirstvo v kulturni dediščini postalo simbol združevanja umetnosti in znanosti. Definitivno za to potrebujemo novi rod inženirjev, ki bodo šli na teren in opravljali tovrstno delo, ki bodo za vse nas na novo odkrivali vrednote, kulturne vrednote, ki jih tako obupno potrebujemo, posebno dandanes.
And if you want to summarize in one just single word, well, this is what we're trying to do. We're trying to give a future to our past in order to have a future. As long as we live a life of curiosity and passion, there is a bit of Leonardo in all of us. Thank you. (Applause) (Applause)
Če bi to povzeli z eno samo besedo, mi skušamo početi tole: naši preteklosti poskušamo dati prihodnost, zato da bi sami imeli prihodnost. Dokler živimo življenje polno radovednosti in strasti, je v vsakem od nas nekaj Leonarda. Hvala. (aplavz) (Aplavz)