Last year I was teaching Scientific Art Examination in an Art College in New York, the Pratt Institute. The following material could be useful for those educational institutions interested in developing a course on scientific examination of art.
In 2009- 2010 I was working on a huge proposal for the US National Science Foundation program ISE (Informal Science Education). The idea was to develop a traveling exhibit for art museums on the topic of scientific examination of art. The goal was to connect art museums visitors to the science behind these methods. The proposal was not funded but I was pretty determined to find out if the hypothesis was valid: Can art museums bring Science Education to young people? US such as Europe need more young scientists, this is a matter of facts. So, in 2011 I was looking for an institution interested to welcome my course on Scientific Art Examination, specifically targeted to non-science students. The idea was to show that Art can reach out to those students not already interested in Science.I had collected a lot of material for the proposal narrative and I was ready to try it out on my own, on the field of an American Art College.
This research collaboration between the Pratt Institute and the MKODE museum in Bergen made the news in Norway.
First, you need to find a nice real piece of art. Mock-ups don’t work, especially if you are teaching art students. Fortunately, I was in contact at that time with the KODE museum in Bergen, Noway, which had a case study that was perfect. An intriguing case of art authentication which needed Science to be solved. Here are some videos shot by the Pratt Institute while we were working on the project.
I experimented a bit with different syllabi and this is the one that worked better. It was short enough to keep high the interest of students that were not specifically interested in art examination and conservation but could be fascinated by the scientific tools and the art discoveries. Eventually, I choose to focus only on imaging methods and some microscopy, leaving out the analytical instrumentation. There was already a lot of science involved into imaging and microscopy and being visual was useful to get the art students audience’s attention.
Syllabus and more details were available for students here. I made also a video posted on the institute’s course page. My course was not mandatory so I had to hunt a bit for students!
In this video you can see two mock-up paintings made to have something to experiment on in class.
In order to give students insight into real world applications of what a course an art examination is about, you should plan a visit to a local museum’s conservation department. We were in New York, so we could get the Metropolitan Museum of Art whose Department of Scientific Research was so kind to host our students for guided tours of their Scientific lab.
I was gratified by the interest in Science I was able to raise in my students. Here are some excerpts from the students’ evaluation of the course.
What in your opinion are the best features of this course?
1.) hands on experiments with the Madonna painting.
2.) Working with an actual painting.
3.) Learning new techniques.
4.) The fact that we learned about different layers and ranges of light through many / forms of new technology.
5.) I found it very helpful to know more about Art Restoration and I wish the course was longer.
6.) Interesting to see real paintings that have been worked on, hands on labs with paintings and all the equipment.
7.) It’s a rare opportunity to see a side of art history we wouldn’t have public access to. The equipment is cool.
8.) Studying specific equipment and how it is used. Getting a semi-hands on experience.
9.) How technology could be important when to examine the paintings. Some very interesting equipment.
10.) The topic was very interesting and cool. I learned a lot about tools and method that I didn’t even know about before. Being able to see how the tools work directly made it more interesting.
11.) Great Science course for art students. Great subject matter. Different from other courses.
12.) Examining the art and seeing different things beyond what you could see on the outside.
13.) I liked the labs we did. It was interesting being able to relate this course to life examples.
14.) The hands on part, really great to see science so directly applied to the arts.
15.) There is a great deal of scientific research that goes into art. It was great learning about methods used to date and distinguish art.
My favorite ones:
16) It was a very fun class… sad to see Antonino go..
17) The exams were pretty difficult but still fair.
And this one!!!
18) “I wish he could teach all of my classes because my life would be 100,000 times more amusing. “
Ahahah!!
I want to thank Prof Del Federico and Prof Kehlet for the possibility they gave me to teach this course, and the great people at the Pratt Dept of Math and Science that helped and supported me in creating this course.
