Detecting Forgeries

Detecting Forgeries

Detecting Forgeries

By use of special illumination such as ultraviolet black light, infrared photography, and X-ray radiographs, inconsistencies and changes in paintings may be detected. Instrumental analyses may reveal anachronisms in a work of art, and techniques such as carbon-14 dating, thermoluminescence dating, and dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) are all helpful in detecting forgeries in works of art.

The dates when many pigments were introduced into the artist’s palette are known; thus, if the 18th-century pigments Prussian blue and zinc white appear in a painting purported to be of an earlier date, then the work is obviously a forgery. Paint extending over an old crackle pattern may be evidence of repainting. Signatures are often changed by a forger; frequently, the binocular microscope is used to detect the alteration. Radiographs will reveal changes made by the original artist as well as those made on an old object by a forger. Pottery from archaeological sites is often “restored” from pieces that do not belong together by filing down edges of similar pieces from a second object. These, and fills of plaster or other materials, may show up in the X-ray.

The best detector of a false work of art, however, is the trained human eye. For example, a banker who is thoroughly familiar with printed currency can detect counterfeit money just by casual scrutiny, just as a fraudulent signature on a check is glaringly obvious when compared with a true signature. The detection of forgeries should be carried out jointly by art historians, art conservators, and scientists who have specialized in analysis of art and archaeological materials. (1)

Art Forgery Entries in the Encyclopedia: Notable Forgers and Detecting Forgeries

Resources

Notes and References

  1. Encarta Online Encyclopedia

See Also


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