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Is an obsession with "originals" as quaint as our desire to walk on Mars, rather than sending robots? My first reaction (after amazement) was to imagine a mach

Is an obsession with "originals" as quaint as our desire to walk on Mars, rather than sending robots? My first reaction (after amazement) was to imagine a machine coloring in the cracks. The future will always see any effort in this direction as primitive. Why didn't we wait for their tools? A full-scale reproduction, recreating the feeling of the painting when it was new, doesn't have that problem. I want a robotic setup that scans, and 3D prints elsewhere with paint. Meanwhile, does the art restoration world place a premium on using dissimilar materials, that prevent further disintegration while fooling the eye, but are easily distinguished by future scanning techniques? I can imagine purists insisting on "authentic" materials that will be confused with the original painting in the future.

dandelany 5y ago
> Meanwhile, does the art restoration world place a premium on using dissimilar materials, that prevent further disintegration while fooling the eye, but are easily distinguished by future scanning techniques? Yes - as I understand it, restoration involves careful use of solvents to remove old layers of varnish/added paint, followed by a new coat of varnish to protect the original underlying paint, followed by inpainting/overpainting (filling on cracks and/or painting over damage). This is done using materials that can be easily removed by future restorers without damaging the original. I imagine these layers would show up on a sufficiently high-res scan, too.