Color Analysis of the Brancacci Chapel Frescoes: Part II

Abstract

The restoration work of the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel (Chiesa del Carmine, Firenze) offered us the opportunity of recording about one hundred reflectance spectra of selected areas on the frescoes before and after restoration. Our previous research was mainly devoted to pigment identification. In the present paper, color analysis is performed by computing chromaticity coordinates, purity, and dominant wavelength, starting from the reflectance spectra previously recorded. Afterwards, color difference between restored and not-restored fresco is evaluated and its distribution examined. The obtained results are then discussed in connection both to the causes which produced the color modification and to the possibility of performing electronic restoration on paintings.