Large scale non-invasive scientific imaging and analysis of wall paintings at the UNESCO site of Mogao Caves along the Silk Road

Time: Thursday, November 20, 2014 - 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Type: Seminar Series
Presenter: Professor Haida Liang, Nottingham Trent University
Room/Office: First Floor, Lecture Hall 110
Location:
Environmental Science Center
21 Sachem Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
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Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Dialogues in Heritage Science

"Large scale non-invasive scientific imaging and analysis of wall paintings at the UNESCO site of Mogao Caves along the Silk Road"

Professor Haida Liang 
Nottingham Trent University

The UNESCO world heritage site, Mogao caves near Dunhuang, is a Buddhist temple site along the ancient Silk Road with a history that extends over 1000 years from the 4th C to the 14th C. The 45,000 square metres of wall paintings in 492 caves are an immense resource for the study of the history of art, architecture, religion, technology, politics and cultural exchange along the Silk Road. In this talk, we show an example of a systematic in situ study of the wall paintings using a range of non-invasive optical imaging and spectroscopic instruments. A microfade spectrometer developed in our group was used to examine the light stability of various paints in a cave before imaging. PRISMS, the remote 3D spectral imaging system developed in our group, has the capability of high resolution remote spectral imaging (multispectral and hyperspectral) at distances of tens of metres, making it convenient to examine ceiling paintings or wall paintings at lofty heights. A hand-held X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) was used to identify the elemental content of the pigments at selected spots to complement the pigment identification using PRISMS. In addition, an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) system was brought to this remote site for the first time. OCT is an imaging device capable of non-contact imaging of 3D subsurface microstructure, and it was found to be effective in separating the layers on which the preparatory sketches and the final sketches were drawn. This talk demonstrates through examples how a combination of these non-invasive imaging and spectroscopic methods can yield a wealth of information for conservation and art history.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014 at 4:30pm
Environmental Science Center
21 Sachem Street, 1st Floor,
Lecture Hall 110
*Parking is available after 4pm in Lot 22
Contact: laurie.batza@yale.edu