E'92: Infrared Reflectoscopy: The Non-Destructive Analysis of Works of Art

Click here to visit this project's page on Prof. Carrera's website.

See the PowerPoint (right-click and Save As...).

Summary
This group found that, according to Alberto Rizzi, a piece is not considered public art if it is one of the following: church related, a monument, or part of the structure of a building. Further, they compiled a list of categories to encompass those pieces that are considered public art. They are crosses, shields, lions, fragments, statues, tabernacles, reliefs, circular shaped reliefs and confraternity symbols. They also propose categories to differentiate each piece aside from the overall condition to aid in the prioritization of the art. These groups are Artistic, Historical, Popular, Rarity, Dangerous, Polycromous. Recommendations for future IQP projects include: adopting a piece, fundraising through nonprofit organization, and reducing scaffolding costs by grouping pieces together. They created an informative brochure about the process of Reflectoscopy and importance to preservation of public art that was handed out to visitors of the Laboratory at San Gregorio. Something that differentiates itself from other projects is, included in their dataset, the title of each piece and the time period from which it came. This group also proposes that art may act as a catalyst to end racism and promote world piece, and that investing time and money into art restoration is well spent.

Team
Maria C. Dilanco
John V. Handal
Edward M. Mason

Sponsor
Founded by Professor Fabio Carrera in 1988, the Venice Project Center @ WPI is an academic initiative designed to allow undergraduate engineering students to study abroad, to apply skills and knowledge to solve real-world problems, to further develop these skills, and to provide valuable assistance to a city endangered by environmental, socio-economic and man-made factors.