Revisiting Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI): A Tool for Monitoring and Evaluating Conservation Treatments

Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) has already been used for about twenty years in the field of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage for non-invasive condition assessment and documentation. However, its potential can be expanded. This paper will discuss the benefits of applying th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inIOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 364; no. 1; pp. 12060 - 12070
Main Authors Boute, Rosa, Hupkes, Marjolein, Kollaard, Noa, Wouda, Sepha, Seymour, Kate, ten Wolde, Lauren
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol IOP Publishing 01.06.2018
Subjects
Condition monitoring
Conservation
Cultural heritage
Cultural resources
Evaluation
Imaging
Reflectance
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) has already been used for about twenty years in the field of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage for non-invasive condition assessment and documentation. However, its potential can be expanded. This paper will discuss the benefits of applying this readily available and low-tech technique to evaluate and monitor conservation treatments. Since the RTI software calculates the exact angle of the light for each RTI image taken, lighting conditions can be reproduced, leading to a standardisation of oblique light imaging. As a result, images produced before and after a conservation treatment can be compared. This allows for an objective evaluation of the treatment carried out and enables monitoring the condition of the painting over time.
ISSN:1757-8981
1757-899X
DOI:10.1088/1757-899X/364/1/012060