RU2534899C2 - Method of analysing painting canvas and other works of art to determine authorship and/or for counterfeit protection thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics, computer engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to cultural-historical and art retrospective analysis using computer technologies, and specifically to a method of analysing painting canvas and other works of art to determine authorship and for counterfeit protection thereof. The method includes obtaining a digital copy of the image of the painting canvas or another work of art, saving said image on a computer and subsequent processing thereof in a graphics editor, wherein the image processing consists of a sequence of actions which include magnifying the image to the required size, dimming of the image using a "burn" tool until depressions and contours of the image appear, brightening the obtained image with a "dodge" tool, leaving untouched the depressions and contours until a defined relief is obtained, processing the image with an "unsharp mask" tool by setting up individual parameters of the sharpness effect, the pixel radius and the level threshold until the most defined image contours are obtained. The analysis results can be used to authenticate and/or determine authorship of said works of art.

EFFECT: obtaining detailed information reflecting individual peculiarities of a specific painting canvas without applying mechanical action of a tool on the analysed object.

5 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of cultural-historical and artistic retrospective research using computer technology, and in particular to a method for analyzing art paintings and other works of art to determine their authorship and protection against fake. The method can be used for scientific and educational purposes, as well as in restoration and forensic fields to establish the authenticity of works of art, for the study of x-rays and any photographs.

State of the art

A device for the study of paintings in ultraviolet rays (SU 151231 A1 (IPC: B44F 1/06). It contains mercury-quartz lamps and filters mounted in a portable chamber made in the form of a box open on one side and having a viewing hole with the opposite .

The disadvantages of this method of researching paintings is the use of special expensive bulky equipment that requires additional preparatory procedures and working conditions. In addition, this device requires close alignment with the surface of the studied picture, which can cause mechanical damage, and intense ultraviolet radiation can cause irreparable changes in the picture itself, leading to photochemical discoloration of the colors.

Other methods of researching paintings are also known, consisting, for example, in the use of X-ray equipment (see http://www.restorer.com.ua/img lib), as well as a laser (http://www.membrana.ru/storage/ img / g / gh8.jpg), which is used to study the sequence of alternation of thin layers of paint and glaze, to determine the pigments that the artist uses in his paints.

The disadvantage of these methods is the need to use special expensive equipment and conditions, as well as the low reliability of the result.

These methods do not provide sufficient information about the paintings, are not able to reveal their hidden features, as they do not allow to extract information about the spatial distribution of paints along the depth of the picture, x-ray radiation does not allow to identify the color of the paints.

Patent RU 2333613 C1 (IPC: H04N 1/40, G06T 5/00) discloses a method for identifying paintings for their authorship by forming a set of encrypted data for fragments of paintings by the corresponding colors of the painting’s palette, identifying the presence of unique features of a work of art specific to a particular the author of the painting and expected in any work of this author due to the genetic affiliation of the original colors. When identifying the studied object, a comparison is made of the identified unique features of the studied object of the painting and the original according to the graphical dependences k _r on Rc calculated in the darkest, lightest and middle colors, taking into account the natural hardware error, and conclude that the painting is identified for their subject authorship.

The main disadvantages of the described method are its high complexity and the inability to see the individuality of the work of art as a whole, its hidden features.

The ability to see hidden features (preliminary images, signatures) in art paintings is stated in the method described in patent RU 2403559 C1 (IPC: G01N21 / 27). This invention provides an increase in the unambiguous identification of art paintings based on the non-contact determination of the three-dimensional color structure of art paintings when measuring spectral reflection coefficients of not only external surface layers of paints, but also internal ones by revealing hidden volumetric images. The method includes sensing the surface using spatially coherent broadband optical radiation of the visible range with a spectrum width Δλ (400-750 nm), the sounding being carried out by dividing the radiation into two beams - measuring and reference.

The disadvantage of this method is the need to use highly specialized special equipment, as well as a long time working with the art canvas for its multiple optical measurements.

The present invention is directed to eliminating the above disadvantages of known analogues.

Disclosure of invention

The technical result of the invention is to obtain detailed information that reflects the hidden individual characteristics of a particular artistic canvas, without resorting to instrumental mechanical influences on the object of study. Research results can be used to determine the authenticity and / or authorship of the above art objects.

The solution to the technical problem of protecting artwork and other works of art from falsification, as well as determining their authorship, is as follows. We obtain a high-quality digital copy of the original work of art by photographing, scanning, radiography or using other well-known tools designed to obtain a digital copy.

In this case, the following are recorded: brand of equipment, sequence of actions. Then the resulting image is processed using special computer technology, proposed in the form of steps in the present description.

As a result of processing, we get a clear visual image (hereinafter referred to as an encoded image), on which all details are visible that were previously inaccessible to the naked eye of a person. Using this method, it is possible to create an information database of coded images of the original artwork or other works of art, obtained using the proposed technology, which will allow using the same processing and comparison to verify the authenticity or establish the authorship of the studied artworks, as well as other works of art. This information base must be updated if the original artwork or other work of art has been restored.

An information database compiled using the proposed utility model assumes the following information:

1) a catalog of individual distinctive details (characters, inscriptions, numbers, etc.), characteristic of a particular author of an art canvas or other work of art;

2) a catalog of information about the materials used by one or another author to create an artistic canvas or other work of art;

3) a catalog of information containing a description of the artistic composition characteristic of a particular author when creating an artistic canvas or other work of art;

4) a detailed description of the artistic intent of the author of an art canvas or other work of art, etc.

The information contained in the information database is used for a comparative analysis of the studied art paintings and other works of art for protection against falsification, the definition of authorship.

The proposed utility model may be of particular interest to insurance companies, museum workers, private collectors, and other categories of legal entities and individuals involved in collecting, buying, selling, storing, restoring, or other actions in relation to works of art.

The technical result is achieved using computer programs having the necessary set of tools for working with graphic materials. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the programs “FSViwer”, “Adobe Photoshop” and others are used, and “Dimmer” and “Clarifier” as the main tools.

Using the Clarifier tool, a relief is defined, that is, a convex image on a plane.

Using the Dimmer tool, kyloneglyphs (depressions, indentations, in-depth reliefs cut in the plane) are determined.

Together the tools “Clarifier” and “Dimmer” determine the contours and highlight all the details that were previously inaccessible to the naked eye of the person: outlines, shapes, which have relief and a form of subtraction (removal of excess material from the bulk). The size of the “Dimmer” tool brush is chosen so that the tool does not darken the overall image during processing, but only determines the recesses and contours on the image surface. We choose the size of the Brighter tool so that the tool does not brighten the overall image during processing, but only determines the relief on the image surface.

Additional tools “Filter”, “Contour sharpness” and others are used for in-depth detailing, which provides a detailed description of a particular artistic canvas or other work of art and provides opportunities for its subsequent protection against falsification, as well as for the purpose of determining the authorship of the canvas.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows an art canvas. Artist: Lagorio LF, “Seascape”, 1878, oil on canvas; 76 × 101.5 cm. Restorer: Sagaidak M.M. On the left is a picture before restoration, on the right - after restoration.

Figure 2 shows the image of the picture in the window of the program Adobe Photoshop and the results of zooming in on the picture.

Figure 3 shows the image of the picture in the window of the program Adobe Photoshop and the results of using the tool "Dimmer" and zooming.

Figure 4 shows the image of the picture in the window of the program Adobe Photoshop and the results of using the tool "Clarifier" and zoom.

Figure 5 shows the results of applying the Contour Sharpness tool to an image in Adobe Photoshop and the final results of processing the picture "before restoration" and "after restoration".

The implementation of the invention

The practical implementation of the claimed method is shown as an example in successive "steps" and the corresponding drawings, as an example of processing photographs of an artistic canvas before restoration (conditionally "original") and as an example of processing photographs of the same canvas after restoration (conditionally "fake") (Author: Lagorio L. F., "Seascape", 1878, oil on canvas; 76x101.5 cm. Restorer: Sagaidak M. M. Address:):

Step 1. Photographing the original artwork or other work of art, we get a high-quality digital copy of the image (it is possible to scan, X-ray, or use another technology for obtaining a digital copy). In this case, we describe in detail the brand and technical characteristics of the equipment used and the conditions of the actions taken. We save the resulting image in a computer (see Figure 1).

Step 2. A copy of the original is opened in the program “Adobe Photoshop”. We increase the image scale to 200%. We get an enlarged image on the screen. The magnification scale is selected randomly (see Figure 2).

Step 3. In the left part of the interface of the main menu of the program, by clicking on the right button of the computer mouse, open the "Dimmer" tool button in the submenu. Select brush number 1 hardness of 100%. Fixing the left button of the computer mouse by pressing, we process the entire image surface with very fast arbitrary movements until the recesses and contours are completely detected, and then save the image in a folder (see Figure 3).

Step 4. Copy the image that has been processed to “Step 3”.

A copy of the image is opened in the program "Adobe Photoshop" and

increase the image to 200%. Zoom scale selectable

in any order. In the left part of the interface of the main menu of the program, click on the right button of the computer mouse, open the “Clarifier” button in the submenu. Select brush number 1 hardness of 100%. Fixing the left button of the computer mouse in the click, we process the entire image surface with arbitrary movements, leaving the recesses and selected contours intact to identify and highlight the highest points in the relief, and continue processing until the relief is completely selected. Save the resulting image in a folder (see Figure 4).

Step 5. Open the folder, copy the image and open it in the program “Adobe Photoshop”. In the main menu bar, select the “Filter” interface button, open and select the “Contour sharpness” interface button, select individual image processing parameters: sharpness effect, pixel radius, level threshold. The purpose of these actions is to obtain the clearest contours of the image.

We put the coded image in the information base along with a description of the sequence of actions performed. In the future, the studied artistic canvases or other works of art are processed according to the description of the sequence of actions in which the encoded image of the original was obtained, we compare the result obtained, and we conclude (see Figure 5).

Of course, the above description does not limit the essence of the claimed invention to those specific parameters or programs that are listed above. The data presented are provided only as an example and can be selected in each case individually for a particular object of study.

Claims (1)

The method of analysis of art paintings and other works of art to determine their authorship and / or protection against falsification, including obtaining a digital copy of the image of the artwork or other work of art, storing the specified image in a computer and its subsequent processing in a graphical editor, characterized in that the image processing carry out by performing a sequence of actions, including zooming to the required size, darkening the image with a tool “dimming” until the recesses and contours of the image appear, brightening the resulting image with the “clarifier” tool, leaving the revealed recesses and contours intact until the relief appears more clearly, processing the image using the “contour sharpness” tool by adjusting individual parameters of the sharpness effect, pixel radius and threshold levels to get the sharpest outlines of the image.

Images