Multispectral Imaging for Palimpsests (1h)

course palimpsest – msi
This lesson focuses on the application of multispectral imaging to analyze palimpsests. Participants will learn how to enhance the readability of faded carbon black ink while minimizing the visibility of iron gall ink through the use of selective spectral filters. Objectives
  • Understand the principles of multispectral imaging.
  • Learn how to use spectral filters to isolate carbon-based ink.
  • Explore the process of building a multispectral cube for enhanced image analysis.
Materials Lesson Plan
  1. Introduction to Multispectral Imaging
    • Explanation of Antonello multispectral imaging system.
    • Review of reflectance spectra for support, iron gall ink, and carbon black ink.
  2. Filter Selection
    • Selection of three key filters based on reflectance spectra (450 nm, 671 nm, and 920 nm).
  3. Building the Multispectral Cube
    • Demonstration of loading spectral images into the software.
    • Step-by-step process for selecting carbon ink points and applying classification algorithms.
  4. Image Classification and Enhancement
    • Using Euclidean distance to classify carbon ink.
    • Adjusting tolerance to optimize visibility of the faded text.
course reading palimpsests -multispectral imaging course reading palimpsests -multispectral imaging  

Learn Multispectral Imaging 

Multispectral imaging is a powerful extension of Technical Photography and a key step toward advanced scientific examination of art and archaeology. With the Antonello system, this approach becomes accessible, structured, and affordable, even for those without a strong technical background. If you are a conservator, scientist, or art collector and you are not yet using multispectral imaging, you are missing a valuable source of information. By capturing images under selected wavelength bands, the Antonello system helps reveal material differences, pigment distributions, and hidden features in a fully non-invasive way. Multispectral imaging with Antonello offers a practical and reliable starting point for evidence-based art analysis.

multispectral imaging for art

TP-KITTraining 2026

Scientific Art Examination – Resources:
Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) – USA
The British Museum – Scientific Research Department – UK
Scientific Research Department – The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
C2RMF (Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France) – France
Rijksmuseum – Science Department – Netherlands

 

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