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.
1975年,我在佛羅倫斯見到了 卡洛佩德瑞提教授 他曾經是我的藝術史教授,而今 他是以專研達文西聞名於世的學者 他問我能不能找到某種科技 來解開已存在五世紀之久的謎團─ 達文西失落的巨作「安吉里戰役」 這幅畫作應該是在 佛羅倫斯舊宮的五百人大廳裡 在七零年代中期,像我這樣的生物工程學家 沒有什麼好的工作機會,特別是在義大利 所以我決定和來自美國 及佛羅倫斯大學的研究人員一起著手探索 瓦薩里在五百人大廳的長牆上繪製的壁畫 以尋找達文西失落的畫作
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.
不幸的是,當時我們並不知道 這裡不是我們該留意的地方 正因為我們得挖更深, 這個研究最終被擱置下來,直到2000年 在金氏家族的大力支持之下,才得以重啟 這次,我們把焦點擺在試著重建 那建於1494年的五百人大廳 也就是大廳 (Sala Grande) 在翻修之前的樣貌 並找出它原本的門窗位置 為此,我們首先做出一個 3D 模型 然後藉著熱成像的技術,我們發現了一些 隱藏的窗戶,那都是大廳原本的窗戶 也知道了天花板的高度 所以能夠成功地重建 原始禮堂的整個佈局 也就是在瓦薩里來到此地之前的樣貌 我們也重建出整個結構 包括一個很重要的樓梯 那是為了將「安吉里戰役」準確地放置 而準備的工具之一
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.
我們也發現在1560到1574年間 受梅迪奇家族的大公科西莫一世委託 翻修五百人大廳的瓦薩里 為保存大師作品,至少有兩次在 作品前特地築起一道磚牆 並在牆與作品間留下小小的氣隙 這邊的一個例子是 馬薩其奧的「佛羅倫斯新聖母堂」 所以我們就想,或許瓦薩里也對 達文西的傑作做了類似的事 畢竟他相當崇拜達文西
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.
所以我們做了一些非常精細的無線電天線 用來探測大廳的兩面牆來找尋這樣的氣隙 而我們真的在東牆右邊的牆板找到了 一個這樣的氣隙 我們相信「安吉里戰役」 或者至少是據知已經繪成的 稱為「奪旗之戰」的一部分應該就在那裡
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.
不過很不幸地 這個計畫在2004年中止了 出於很多政治上的原因 所以我決定回到我的母校 加州大學聖地牙哥分校 並提議創設一個 以保存文化遺產為目的的工程科學研究中心 然後在2007年,我們創了 CISA3 一個以保存文化遺產,尤其是藝術、建築 以及考古發現而設的研究中心,所以學生開始湧入 也開始發展這方面的科技 因為那正是我們推展這個計畫 以及重回實地工作所需要的技術
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.
我們在2011年時回到五百人大廳 這次我們有一大群學生 還有我的同事凡科庫斯特教授 現在他是CISA3的負責人 一起回到這裡,是因為我們已經知道 該到哪裡尋找可能留下的畫作遺跡 但這麼說吧,我們的研究方式受到限制 出於一些不值得說明的原因 在眾多選項中,我們只能使用內視鏡 藉著附接在內視鏡上的四毫米攝像頭 我們成功紀錄並採到 一些碎片,後來證實這些 有著紅黑夾雜的色彩 我們後來針對一些米色碎片 作了更精密的檢驗 包括X光螢光與繞射分析,也得到非常正面的結果 看起來這似乎表示 我們確實找到一些顏料,也因為我們知道 在瓦薩里大約六十年後來到這裡之前 其他的藝術家不曾在那面牆上作畫 所以那些顏料很可能與壁畫有關 最有可能出於達文西
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.
我們在找尋的是人類有史以來 所創作出最棒、最受推崇的藝術作品 事實上,這是達文西一生所接過 最重要的委託 因為這幅傑作,他被喻為是 當時最有影響力的藝術家
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.
在過去的 37 年中,我也有幸參與了一些 跟我背後這幾項傑作有關的計畫 但我到底在做些什麼呢?比方說 評估它們保存的狀態,你們看這幅「椅中聖母」 當我們把紫外線打在聖母的臉上時 你突然會看到另一位女士 應該說一位更年長的女士 這上面還殘留很多亮光漆、潤飾及過度清理的痕跡 在紫外線下變得很明顯
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)
科技更幫助我們寫下歷史的新頁 或至少更新我們所知的歷史 比方說,這幅「抱著獨角獸的女人」 另一幅拉斐爾的畫作,你看到獨角獸 對於這隻獨角獸已經有很多不同的闡述 但如果你給牠照張 X 光片,牠就變成一隻小狗了 (眾笑)這還不打緊,不幸的是 在更進一步以科技檢驗這幅畫作之後 我們發現拉斐爾沒畫獨角獸, 也沒畫小狗,他根本沒把這幅畫畫完 所以一切關於這隻奇特的獨角獸的象徵意義的著作─ (眾笑)─ 很不幸的 都不大可靠
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.
再來就是鑑定作品的真偽,你想嘛 如果科技真的能夠對真跡鑑定有所貢獻 那會是一場文化的革命 我認為至少可以說是藝術市場的革命 舉例來說 奧托瑪蘇斯的「靜物」,很棒的作品 現在保存在碧提宮的美術館裡 對藝術史家來說,很幸運地 紅外線掃描剛剛證實了畫上有奧托瑪蘇斯的簽名,甚至 還說了這幅畫是何時何地畫成 這結果還不錯,但有時候就沒那麼幸運了 所以我要再次強調,鑑定和科學可以相輔相成 並改變現今的鑑定方式,不單只是單純的主觀認定 而是找出一個可以更為客觀 或者說,較不那麼主觀的認定基礎 至少和現在比起來
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.
但我敢說真正激起 我的想像力和讚嘆的,是那不可思議、栩栩如生的畫作 就隱藏在那棕色外層 也就是「賢士來朝」之下 在這邊你可以看到一台手製的紅外線立體掃描儀 正對這棕色外層的 大師作品進行掃描 來找出這外層之下可能有的東西 而底下正是義大利所擁有的 最重要的一幅達文西畫作 看看這些五個世紀以來沒有人見過的臉孔 看看這些畫像, 令人讚嘆不已,彷彿看到達文西作畫的身影 從他的創作中你可以感受到真切的情感 從這幅畫的底層透出來 看看這了不起的發現,這麼說吧 這是一隻大象(眾笑)因為這隻大象 有七十多個幾世紀未曾見世的新圖像出現 那是一場頓悟,我們才明白 並接著證明今日所看到的棕色外層 並非出自達文西之手,而讓底下其他畫像 在五世紀以來無法得見 這全是靠著科技的幫助
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?
再來是平板電腦,我們覺得 如果我們如此榮幸能看到這些東西 以及這所有發現,何不和所有人分享呢? 所以我們想到在平板電腦上作個擴增實境應用程式 讓我作個示範 我們能夠用它來做些什麼 這是任何人在博物館裡都可以做到的事 所以我們帶著平板電腦到博物館去 然後我們把平板電腦的相機 對準我們想看的畫,就像這樣 好了嗎?然後按下快門,等一下 現在讓我轉向你們,所以當這個影像─ 或者應該說是相機,鎖定了這幅畫以後 你們剛剛在那邊看到的畫中影像 就載入這裡了,然後你們看 我們就能像剛才說的把畫放大,還可以上下捲動 好嗎?讓我們去把這隻大象找出來吧 我們只要用一根手指頭,抹一抹 就能看到這隻大象了(掌聲) (掌聲) 好嗎?然後如果想要的話 可以繼續捲動這幅畫來找出─ 比方說,在這個樓梯上(用手指抹一抹) 這整個圖像就都改變了 你現在看到的是很多人在廢墟上重建新的廟堂 還有很多其他的圖像也出現了,看到了嗎?
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)
這不只是一項引人好奇的事物 因為它不只改變了你所看到的圖像 還有圖像學本身以及畫作的意義 我們相信這是一個又棒又簡單的方法 讓每個人都能和我們一樣 走入數不清的博物館展間時 能夠更積極主動地去挖掘出自己的發現 而不是只能被動接受 (掌聲)
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.
另一個概念是數位診斷圖表 如果是討論病人,就很容易理解 但不幸的是,當談到藝術作品時 這個概念不曾被探索過 我們還是相信,這只是一個開始 是著手進行真正的保存的第一步 也讓我們能夠實際地去探索、去了解 所有跟我們的保存工作有關的事 用的技術和材料,以及在什麼情況之下 我們應該修復畫作 或者介入畫作的周邊環境
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.
我們的願景是能 重新找回文藝復興的精神、創造全新領域 讓保存文化遺產的技術 成為藝術與科學融合的象徵 這確實需要擁有全新專長的工程師 能夠實地進行這種工作 來幫助我們重現這些 在今日尤為需要的文化價值
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)
如果要以簡單一句話作結 這就是我們所作的嘗試 試著藉由延續過去 來展望未來 只要我們能夠在生活中常抱好奇心與熱情 達文西的精神就常在我們心中,謝謝大家(掌聲) (掌聲)