Overview

This book presents a comprehensive forensic analysis of an oil painting depicting a Madonna and Child in a tondo format, previously thought to be a Victorian copy. Detailed historical and scientific studies confirm that this painting was, in fact, created by Raphael around 1512 as a study for his renowned Sistine Madonna, commissioned by Pope Julius II as an altarpiece for the monastic church of San Sisto in Piacenza. The painting underwent rigorous forensic examination, combining historical research with both invasive and non-invasive scientific imaging techniques. The analysis utilized advanced physical and chemical instrumentation to determine the painting's authenticity and accurate chronological placement. A comparative review of published chemical analyses of pigments, dyes, and substrates used in Raphael’s works from collections worldwide is included. Additionally, this study explores the innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) for facial comparison between the figures in the tondo painting, the Sistine Madonna, and other Raphael artworks. These AI-generated insights provide novel information about the identities of Raphael’s models and shed light on his working techniques, as well as those of his associates.

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9783031722707

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Howell Edwards, born in Skewen, Neath, South Wales, is Professor Emeritus of Molecular Spectroscopy at the University of Bradford. He read Chemistry at Jesus College in the University of Oxford and after completing his B.A. and B.Sc. degrees he studied for his doctorate in Raman spectroscopy at Oxford with Dr Leonard Woodward and then became a Research Fellow at Jesus College, University of Cambridge. He joined the University of Bradford as a Lecturer in Structural and Inorganic Chemistry, becoming Head of the Department of Chemical and Forensic Sciences, and was awarded a Personal Chair in Molecular Spectroscopy in 1996. He has received several international awards (Sir Harold Thompson Award; Charles Mann Award; Emanuel Boricky Medal; Norman Sheppard Award) in a spectroscopic career which has resulted in the publication of almost 1400 research papers and articles in Raman spectroscopy and the characterisation of materials, along with six books on the application of this analytical technique to art, archaeology and forensic science. He has had a lifelong interest in the porcelains of William Billingsley, especially those from the Derby, Nantgarw and Swansea factories. He has authored seven major books on Nantgarw and Swansea Porcelains: Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains: A Scientific Reappraisal, Nantgarw and Swansea Porcelains: An Analytical Perspective , Porcelain to Silica Bricks: The Extreme Ceramics of William Weston Young, 1776-1847, 18th and 19th Century Porcelain Analysis: A Forensic Provenancing Assessment , Porcelain Analysis and Its Role in the Forensic Provenancing of Ceramic Specimens, Welsh Armorial Porcelains : Nantgarw and Swansea Crested China and The Farnley Hall Service : A Unique Survivor in Nantgarw Porcelain , all published by Springer-Nature Publishing , Dordrecht, The Netherlands. He has also produced several monographs on these manufactories and people associated with them: William Billingsley- The Enigmatic Porcelain Artist, Decorator and Manufacturer; Nantgarw Porcelain - The Pursuit of Perfection; Swansea Porcelain - the Duck-Egg Translucent Vision of Lewis Dillwyn and Derby Porcelain: The Golden Years,1780-1830. He has also published in 2022 a book entitled Raman Spectroscopy in the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (with Philippe Colomban and Peter Vandenabeele), for which porcelain artefacts feature as artworks and a vital part of a nation’s cultural heritage, as does the industrial archaeology, excavation and the preservation of early porcelain manufactory sites, many of which have now sadly disappeared in urban expansion. His latest book on a prestigious Derby porcelain service is The Pendock-Barry Service: A Forensic Reappraisal (with Rachel Denyer and Morgan Denyer). He is currently preparing three books on Blue by Fire: Pigments in Glass, Enamels and on Ceramics from Antiquity to the 21st Century (with Philippe Colomban and William Jay), Coade Stone: A History and Analysis (with Christopher Brooke) and Armorial Porcelain: The Genesis (with Rachel Denyer and Morgan Denyer) which will be published in 2023/4. Howell Edwards is Honorary Scientific Adviser to the de Brecy Trust on the scientific evaluation of their artworks and paintings.

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