Thanks to a collaboration with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, between 1983 and 2019, the Gemäldegalerie was the only museum in the world that was able to make systematic use of the technically complex investigative tools of neutron autoradiography (NAR) and gamma spectroscopy, incorporating them into their museum work during that period.
Inspired by the successful autoradiographic imaging of paintings by Rembrandt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1983, a collaboration was initiated between the Gemäldegalerie, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Rathgen-Forschungslabor, and the Hahn-Meitner-Institut (today the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin). The collaboration was initially sparked by debate around the attribution of the painting The Man with the Golden Helmet. The aim at the time was to use neutron autoradiographic imaging to determine whether the work could continue to be attributed to Rembrandt.
In the following years, a team of researchers from the participating institutions developed what has become known as the “Berlin method” of autoradiography, a technique they continued to refine over time, eventually finding a way to apply the method to large-format works and paintings on wooden panels. In total, neutron autoradiographic imaging was carried out on 54 works from the holdings of the Gemäldegalerie.
Neutron autoradiography is an extremely versatile non-destructive method of analysing paintings. It provides information about the pigments used, the brushwork, the condition of the layers of paint and the various stages in the genesis of the work. Together with other technological methods of analysis, it thus offers unique insights into the creative process of painters. Neutron autoradiographic imaging is particularly informative because it allows researchers to see the build-up and structure of multiple layers of paint at the same time. The information gathered through this imaging can be interpreted in various ways, assisting both art-technological researchers and art historians to make new findings.
The neutron autoradiographic imaging was complemented by what is known as gamma spectroscopy. With this method, the radiance of individual areas of paint can be measured directly from the surface of the painting, making it possible to identify specific colour mixes.
At the end of 2019, BER III, the Berlin research reactor at the Helmholtz-Zentrum, was permanently decommissioned. This means that it is no longer possible to carry out neutron autoradiographic imaging in Berlin. There are plans to digitise all existing neutron autoradiographs, making them available for future research projects.
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Objectives and outcomes: Production of neutron autoradiographs and gramma spectroscopies for the systematic investigation of works from the Gemäldegalerie. Evaluation and publication of the technical images and research findings.
Project overseen by: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (formerly the Hahn-Meitner-Institut)
Project partners: Rathgen Forschungslabor, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Project team: Dr Andrea Denker (Director of the Department of Proton Therapy at the Hahn-Meitner-Institut/Helmholtz-Zentrum, Berlin 2007–2019), Dr Carl-Otto Fischer (Hahn-Meitner-Institut, 1984–2004), Dr Jan Kelch (Curator for Dutch art of the 17th century/Director of the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1984–2005), Dr Katja Kleinert (research associate/curator of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting at the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2007–2019), Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (conservator at the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1984–2016), Wolfgang Leuther (Hahn-Meitner Institut, 1984–1994), Christoph Schmidt (technical photographer at the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, since 1992), Dr Birgit Schröder-Smeibidl (Head of instruments for neutron autoradiography at the Hahn-Meitner-Institut/Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, 1999–2008), Klaus Slusallek (Rathgen-Forschungslabor, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1984–2001)
Project duration: 1984 to 2019