These paintings are in peril. All three have been defaced, some in ways that are almost impossible to see with the naked eye. Can you guess how they've been altered? You might be surprised.
这些画作正处于危险之中。 这三幅画作全部都拥有 肉眼不可见的损伤。 你猜的到它们是如何改变的吗? 你可能会被事实所惊讶。
When a museum curator inspected this portrait, attributed to the 16th century Italian painter Bronzino, they suspected it was a modern fake. However, closely examining the cracks on its surface, an art conservator discovered that it was from that era— It had just undergone drastic changes in recent centuries. Using x-ray technology, they peered under the outer surface of paint and saw the countenance of a completely different woman. Essential parts of the painting had been modified during a 19th century restoration.
当一位博物馆策展人检查一幅由, 16 世纪意大利画家 布龙齐诺的画时, 他们怀疑这是一幅现代赝品。 然而,当一位艺术维护者 仔细观察它表面的裂缝时, 他发现了那些裂缝 是属于那个时代—— 那幅画在近几个世纪以来 经历了巨大的变化。 使用 X 射线技术, 他们窥视了油漆表面下 并看到一个完全不同的女人的脸。 这幅画的基本部分在 19 世纪的修复过程中进行了修改。
Prior to the mid-20th century, art restorers took a more heavy-handed approach, often believing they were improving art. Nowadays, they focus on keeping the original work intact with minimal intervention. When they need to fix something up, they usually make their markings visually and chemically distinct from the original, so they can be harmlessly removed. But the work of past restorers is a threat they regularly contend with— as was the case with this portrait.
在 20 世纪中叶之前, 艺术品修复者采取了更为严厉的方式 并认为他们是在改进艺术。 如今,他们专注于以最少的干预 保持原始作品的完整性。 当他们需要修复某些东西时, 他们通常会在视觉和化学上 与原始标记不同, 因此来无害的去除它们。 但过去修复者的工作 是他们经常应对的威胁—— 这幅肖像就是这种情况。
To recover the original, the conservator began removing the outer varnish coat. Varnish is commonly used to protect paintings from debris and make their colors pop. But the natural varnishes past restorers applied eventually darkened, which is what gives older paintings that aged, yellowy look. Slowly dissolving the varnish, the conservator uncovered crisp colors below. Taking small samples from the added and original paint layers, they analyzed the compositions of each. Then, they decided which solvents could dissolve the overpainting while minimally affecting the original. Carefully dabbing the canvas with them, they removed the overpainting’s dainty hands and idealized face. The true painting underneath revealed Isabella of the Italian Medici dynasty. The portrait isn’t Bronzino’s, but it is from around 1570, and may have been painted by one of his students. Its Victorian makeover was likely done to boost sales because the original subject wasn’t considered attractive. But now, Isabella is back, meeting her viewer’s gaze directly.
为了恢复原件, 管理员开始去除外层清漆。 清漆通常用于保护画作免受碎屑 并让它们的颜色显眼起来。 但过去修复剂 使用的天然清漆最终会变暗, 这就是使旧画看起来陈旧、 发黄的原因。 慢慢地溶解清漆, 保管员在下面发现了清脆的颜色。 他们从添加的和原始的油漆层中 抽取少量样本, 分析了每个油漆层的成分。 然后,他们决定哪些溶剂会溶解复涂 同时对原件的影响最小。 他们小心翼翼地 用他们在画布上轻拍, 去掉了重绘精致的手和理想化的脸。 底下的真画揭晓意大利 美第奇王朝的伊莎贝拉。 肖像不是布龙齐诺的, 但它是从 1570 年左右的, 可能是他的一位学生画的。 它的维多利亚时代改造 可能是为了促进销售, 因为最初的主题被认为不具吸引力。 但现在,伊莎贝拉回来了, 直接与观众的目光相遇。
This painting, “An Allegory with Venus and Cupid,” is actually Bronzino’s, and it was completed around 1545. It centers on a kiss between Venus and her son Cupid– but it’s been subtly altered. When London’s National Gallery acquired it in 1860, the Gallery’s director deemed it too risqué for Victorian England. So, he commissioned a restorer to obscure Venus’s tongue and nipple. A century after this modification, art conservators analyzed and removed the overpainting with select solvents. In the process, they also realized that the veil covering Venus’s crotch and the branch hiding Cupid’s posterior were other add-ons. Removing two layers of censorship from the painting, it was finally free to boast its provocative original details.
这幅画,“维纳斯和丘比特的寓言”, 实际上是布龙齐诺的, 它于 1545 年左右完成。 它以维纳斯和她的儿子丘比特 之间的吻为中心— 但它被巧妙地改变了。 当伦敦国家美术馆于 1860 年收购它时, 美术馆的馆长认为它对 维多利亚时代的英格兰来说太冒险。 因此,他委托了一位修复师 来遮盖维纳斯的舌头与乳头。 在此修改一个世纪后, 艺术保护人员分析并使用 精选溶剂去除了覆盖。 在这个过程中,他们还意识到 覆盖维纳斯胯部的面纱 和隐藏丘比特臀部的树枝 是其他附加物。 从这幅画中去除了两层审查, 它终于可以自由地提展示 挑衅性的原始细节。
This massive painting called “The Night Watch” was completed by Rembrandt in 1642. Since then, it’s endured one dramatic amputation, two stabbings, an acid attack, and centuries of grime. A museum guard immediately neutralized the acid with water. Restorers lifted the grime, revealing that the painting was not set at night, and healed the slashes using adhesive and extra canvas backing. But they faced an even trickier problem. In 1715, strips were removed from all sides of the canvas, including two whole feet from the left, to fit it inside Amsterdam’s Town Hall. They've been lost ever since. But a multi-year conservation project that began in 2019 replaced the missing pieces. They managed this by training an artificial intelligence to digitally paint in Rembrandt’s style. Then, using another artist’s rendering of the original, the program recreated and printed the painting’s lost sections. Finally, the team returned “The Night Watch” to its full size, with AI-generated best guesses to fill in the blanks.
这幅名为《守夜人》的巨幅画作 由伦勃朗于 1642 年完成。 从那以后,它经历了一次 创伤性截肢、两次刺伤、 一次酸攻击和几个世纪的污垢。 博物馆警卫立即用水中和酸。 修复人员清除了污垢, 表明了这幅画不是在晚上设置的, 并使用粘合剂和额外的帆布背衬 修复了划痕。 但他们面临一个更棘手的问题。 1715 年, 画布四面的条带被移除, 包括左侧两英尺, 以将其放入阿姆斯特丹市政厅。 从那以后,他们就迷路了。 但一个始于 2019 年的多年保护项目 取代了缺失的部分。 他们通过训练人工智能 以伦勃朗的风格 来进行数字绘画。 然后,使用另一位艺术家 对原件的渲染, 程序创建并打印了 这幅画丢失的部分。 最后,该团队将 《守夜人》还原为全尺寸, 并使用 AI 生成的最佳猜测 来填补空白。
All of these paintings had been altered, but none of them were irrevocably ruined. With painstaking scientific analysis and technical skill, art conservators immortalize priceless artifacts. They counteract sudden damage and creeping threats— and sometimes, they perform near miracles.
所有这些画作都被修改过, 但没有一幅收到了不可挽回地毁坏。 凭借艰苦的科学分析和技术技能, 艺术保护者使无价的文物永垂不朽。 他们抵消了突然的伤害 和蔓延的威胁—— 有时,他们表现出近乎奇迹的表现。
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