The X-ray device can uncover significant details of an artist’s processes and techniques and give advance warning of damage
The National Gallery purchased a €125,000 X-ray scanner to analyze paintings, revealing pigment composition for restoration, detecting forgeries by identifying anachronistic materials, and uncovering underlying images. The heavy scanner requires a lead-lined room for operation, but it is currently unused, with its X-ray bulb still in the UK, and most of the machine sitting in the National Gallery’s basement.
