A day in the life of heritage science students at Hellens Manor

Our final guest post for British Science Week 2018, #BSW18, comes from Gavin Leong, a student on the SEAHA MRes course. In this post Gavin reflects on the SEAHA cohort’s visit to Hellens Manor, which took place earlier in British Science Week, to analyse paintings using hyperspectral imaging techniques and carry out environmental monitoring and risk assessments that will inform future approaches to collection care.

Every year, a new roster of Masters students from EAHA visit a lovely old country house sat in scenic Herefordshire. But, far from a holiday or a retreat, these students are here to carry out research. And this isn’t any old house, it’s one of the few surviving 12th century English abodes, Hellens Manor.

Today is Tuesday 13th March 2018, it’s 9.25 AM and the sun is just peeking out of the clouds over Hellens. The imaging group are about to head out to Bloody Mary’s room, a place said to be haunted. But instead of looking for paranormal activity, for the past two days they’ve been painstakingly taking images of paintings using multispectral imaging and infrared reflectography. The former was used as a rapid survey of the ultraviolet, infrared and visible spectrum, while the latter can reveal underdrawings.

With the camera equipment, lighting and cables strewn across the floor they resemble a film crew on the set of a period drama. The stars in this production are two paintings, on canvas and panel. Today, however, they will be using hyperspectral imaging to analyse areas of the paintings with similar composition and pigmentation, which can highlight more modern modifications to the paintings.

It’s now 11.35 AM. The environmental monitoring group are taking advantage of the abundant sunlight, a welcome respite after the recent bout of heavy snow and rain. They’re in the stone hall, where you can find an impressive fireplace that bears the crest of Edward, the Black Prince. But their eyes are drawn to the two equally compelling tapestries. One half of the team are thermal imaging, and measuring the UV and intensity of light falling on the woven fabric, while the other half are assessing its condition using a handheld microscope.

Thermal imaging at Hellens Manor by SEAHA students

 

Assessing the condition of a tapestry at Hellens Manor using a handheld microscope.

Later, they’ll be setting up a camera for digital image correlation to observe any deformation or small changes in strain of the tapestries. By correlating these changes with measurements of fluctuation in humidity, temperature and light in the room, it could contribute to recommendations on best practice for conserving the tapestries in the stone hall.

On any other day it would be difficult for any passing observer to spot the risk assessment group. But not today. It’s 3.17 PM and they’ve donned bright yellow disposable overalls and face masks for the sake of heritage science. Dubbed ‘Minions’ by one of their group members, they have the unenviable task of crawling under the Munthe ‘Cinderella-style’ dress carriage built in the 1860s to get to the back wall of the coach shed. But it was not in vain: there they find the elusive mould, predicted by the humidity and moisture assessment, on the red silk.

Looking for mould at Hellens Manor

The carriages had not been assessed prior to the work by the team. With the fibre and pest identification, moisture content survey of the wood and corrosion assessment of the metal, the risk assessment group can present a strong case for the future management of the carriages.

Pest identification (carpet wool larvae)

To find out more about studying Heritage Science at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology, visit the SEAHA website. The Centre is currently advertising several studentships with mid-April application deadlines.

 

Polychromy Revealed: from medieval wood craftsmanship to 3D printing (Paola Ricciardi)

The next post in our British Science Week 2018 series is by guest writer Paola Ricciardi. Paola Ricciardi is the Research Scientist at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. She specialises in the non-invasive analysis of polychromy (multi-coloured painting) in cultural heritage objects. In this blog, Paola talks about a workshop on digital imaging, modelling, making and interpretation of 3D cultural heritage objects and their replicas.

The Fitzwilliam Museum holds a small but exceptional collection of medieval wood sculptures, largely polychrome, made across Western Europe c.1300-1550. For the most part extremely fragile, most of the sculptures have never been exhibited and are largely unknown to the public and to academics. Following a 10-month pilot project in 2017, we are currently running a series of activities funded by the Arts and Humanities Impact Fund of the University of Cambridge. These activities are aimed at maximising the impact of the pilot and at defining routes to impact for a large-scale research project – POLYCHROMY REVEALED – which will enable us to investigate, interpret, conserve and display the collection, ultimately transforming it into a resource that can be utilised for teaching, research and public engagement.

Pair of Kneeling Angels, Northern Italy?, 15th Century. Image copyright – The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Three events, running in March-May 2018, are particularly aimed at opening a dialogue with scholars, NGOs, industrial partners and crafts/technology practitioners interested in three-dimensional digital modelling; making; interpretation of; and interaction with, cultural heritage objects and their replicas. We want to assess the state-of-the-art of research in these fields and to establish guidelines for the choice of suitable and affordable solutions, which can then be shared with other museums and cultural institutions. Museum audiences are also involved and will be asked to respond to/interact with the outcomes of the initial phase of activities, in order to inform our methodology and choices for the large-scale project.

The real potential of ever-improving 3D visualisation and ‘making’ technologies is still to be fully explored and as such it is the focus of much attention, as demonstrated for example by a well-attended two-day conference recently held at the British Museum and by the ReACH project, led by the V&A Museum. On 15 March, we ran a half-day workshop in collaboration with the University’s Digital Humanities Network. The workshop brought together experts in a range of topics related to the study of, and interaction with, three-dimensional museum objects, such as 3D sensing, digital modelling, digital and physical making, as well as interpretation and outreach. Speakers and participants discussed the various ways in which digital 3D methods can support and enhance our study and the public’s perception of three-dimensional objects.

Panel speakers. From left to right: Steven Dey, Anais Aguerre, Jonathan Beck and Panel Chair, David Saunders. Image copyright – The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Workshop participants were given a demonstration of a structured light scanner which was used to produce models of a selection of polychrome wooden sculptures in the Fitzwilliam Museum collection. They were then asked to work in groups and issue a ‘creative challenge’ to design and produce objects inspired by the original medieval sculptures, based on the 3D models.

Jonathan Beck using a structured light scanner to produce a 3D model of a medieval sculpture. Image copyright The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

The challenge will soon be advertised to members of Cambridge’s Community Workshop MakeSpace and more broadly, and will result in their creations being displayed during a late-night opening of the Fitzwilliam Museum in May. We hope people will feel inspired by the creative challenge and we are very curious to see what they will create!

Working together to issue a creative challenge. Image copyright The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Find out more about the Polychromy Revealed project

The Fitzwilliam Museum houses the principal collections of art and antiquities of the University of Cambridge, and holds over half a million objects in its care. It leads the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM), a consortium of the eight University Museums and the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, which works in partnership with other Cambridge University collections as well as with museums regionally, nationally and internationally. The University’s collections are a world-class resource for researchers, students and members of the public representing the country’s highest concentration of internationally important collections, all within walking distance of the City Centre. Arts Council England has awarded UCM National Portfolio Organisation status from 2018-2022.

Advanced imaging technologies uncover hidden details on Rubens paintings

Next in our British Science Week 2018 series, Historic Royal Palaces’ Senior Conservation Scientist Dr Constantina Vlachou-Mogire tells us about investigating the Rubens ceiling paintings at Banqueting House…

Historic Royal Palaces is preparing for the 400th anniversary of the Banqueting House, which will take place in 2022. During this major project we have a rare opportunity to access and study in detail the Rubens ceiling paintings, their fabrication technique and current condition.

The Banqueting House is the last surviving building of Whitehall Palace which was destroyed by fire in 1698 (Figure 1). Set within a decorative coffered ceiling designed by the building’s architect, Inigo Jones are nine paintings by Rubens, the artist’s largest and most accomplished works to remain in the context for which they were designed. The paintings were commissioned in about 1629 by Charles I as a testament to the glory of the Stuart monarchy through the depiction of his father James I’s life and achievements.

The Main Hall at Banqueting House

These internationally significant paintings are an integral component of the architecture of the hall. Originally the Banqueting House Rubens ceiling paintings were oil-on-canvas stretched on strainers, but since 1907, they were attached to plywood boards. During their long history the paintings have been restored nine times—including in 1940 when they were cut up to evacuate the gigantic panels from the building.

High-resolution multi-spectral imaging

Figure 2: Details of the multispectral gigapixel images of The Apotheosis of King James I panel (a. visible light, b. infrared reflected, c. ultraviolet-induced luminescence)

The first phase of our project involved capturing the condition of the paintings in high resolution images (Figure 2). The scale of the paintings, covering a total surface of 243 m², and their position 17 m from the ground, made this task particularly challenging; however, recent advancements in digital photography helped us to overcome these difficulties.  Collaboration with imaging specialists developed the application of GigaPan technology to document all nine paintings from the ground in visible light and infrared light as panoramic ‘Gigapixel’ images. Ultraviolet-induced luminescence images were taken at close-range from a scaffold, by illuminating small sections of the painting and later stitching the images together to full-painting size. Superimposing the visible, infrared and ultraviolet images allows analysis and detailed classification of the current condition of the paintings as a standing record. This will underpin further investigations and inform the programme of conservation of these important paintings.

We would like to thank the following external collaborators for their expert insights and contributions to the successful progress of this cross disciplinary project: UV/IR imaging Dr Giovanni Verri (Courtauld Institute of Art) and Steven Paine (Paine & Stewart), 3D laser scanning, visible ‘Giga’ imaging John Hallett Jones (Glanville Consultants).

Five minutes with… Simon Crutchley, Remote Sensing Development Manager at Historic England

Today in our British Science Week 2018 series, we sit down and talk to Simon Crutchley, Remote Sensing Development Manager at Historic England. Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about an area from a distance, from aircraft or satellites scanning the earth. Read on to find out about his career and the most exciting things he’s been up to…

What’s your scientific/heritage background?

After studying classics at university and spending a few years digging on “the circuit”, as it was called, I got a job with what was then the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) as an Air Photo Interpreter. Since that date I’ve worked in the remote sensing field for nearly 30 years, initially using standard aerial photographs, but over time working with lidar (airborne laser scanning) and more recently satellite imagery.

What’s your role at Historic England?

My primary role at Historic England (HE) is to look at new and cutting edge scientific techniques being used in remote sensing in areas outside heritage, and develop ways to utilise and integrate them into existing workflows. This is both for Historic England and the wider sector.

What’s been the most exciting / challenging thing you’ve worked on recently?

It’s probably a toss-up between two pieces; one is the work I’ve done to try and expand use of the lidar data, released by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2015, by the wider heritage sector, and particularly amateur archaeologists. For this I’ve put together some very basic instructions on the HE website to explain how to access the EA data and then process it so as to produce visualisations to help with recording and interpretation.

Comparison between the standard jpg tile provided by the Environment Agency through Flickr (left) and a more advanced visualisation technique, based on the raw data, in this case a Simple Local Relief Model (SLRM) (right). The SLRM is the result of a procedure that separates local small-scale features from larger landscape forms, thereby enhancing features of potential archaeological interest. Tile SU1257 – LIDAR data © Geomatics Group 2008.

The other is the work I’ve done to provide access to the data from the Cannock “Chase Through Time” project, which explored the rich history of Cannock Chase area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There has been a strong volunteer aspect to the project and one of my key roles has been to create an online map, where it’s possible for users to view the results of the mapping carried out by HE against a surface model derived from the lidar data acquired for the project. Volunteers then have the possibility to download the original lidar data to carry out further analysis themselves and also to take ground photos of features of interest and add them to the map.

A screenshot of the StoryMap web app for the “Chase Through Time” project for Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. All across the Chase, previous generations left their mark on the land – including one of the best-preserved First World War landscapes in England.

Who inspires you?

It may sound a bit corny, but people who try to make a difference; people like Bill Gates who devotes part of his admittedly massive fortune to addressing challenges not being tackled by other agencies, such as his malaria initiative.

What do you love most about your job?

The variety. One day I might be providing advice to a member of the public who thinks they may have seen something interesting on Google Earth or wants to know more about lidar; the next I’ll be working with raw lidar data, processing it to bring out subtle features of a landscape no-one has recognised before; the next I’ll be collaborating with other project members working out how to get the data from a project into GIS and shared with others.

In a single sentence, tell us what’s great about heritage science?

Heritage Science provides the data that enables us to understand what the world looked like in the past and how our ancestors interacted with it.

Comparison of the Digital Surface Model (DSM) and Digital Terrain Model (DTM) derived from lidar data for part of Savernake Forest, Wiltshire. The DSM is based on the first return from the lidar pulse and represents the top of the canopy; the DTM is based on filtered data, designed to remove all “above ground” points such as vegetation. This view reveals the presence of an Iron Age enclosure together with several other features. Lidar © Forestry Commission; source: Cambridge University ULM (May 2006).

Five minutes with…David Howell, Head of Conservation Research, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

What’s your background in heritage science?

Let’s see…BSc in Chemistry (back in the days when it was called Alchemy!) 3 years a chemist for British Sugar, BA in English Mediaeval Studies, 20 years doing conservation and science at Historic Royal Palaces, 8 years trying to do management at The Bodleian Libraries, and 3 years setting up Heritage science in the library.

What’s your role at the Bodleian?

My boss was recently promoted (deservedly) to deputy librarian so waiting to hear who my new boss will be. But I work with all sorts of people who share a need and a passion for the work I do. Over the last year I’ve been successful in getting funding from The Leverhulme Trust for a research project to investigate some absolutely beautiful botanical watercolours, and I also got funding to purchase a hyperspectral imaging system, plus funding for a DPhil student to study the use of the equipment. I work with conservators, curators, academics, scientists, imaging professionals, IT professionals, resource discovery staff and readers (and probably folk who don’t fall into these categories). I have a public web page and conservation research strategy http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/our-work/conservation-research and part of my mission is to promote heritage science. I’m having great fun with Prof Andrew Beeby from Durham University at the moment working with Raman spectroscopy.

What’s been the most exciting or challenging thing you’ve worked on recently?

This is a good time to ask me because the last week of February was one of the most exciting and rewarding times of my entire career! We were carrying out several analyses on the famous early mediaeval Gough map of Great Britain and the equally famous Selden map of China in the newly opened Weston Library, as well as a brief sojourn to Plant Sciences to trial Raman spectroscopy on the glorious Flora Graeca! There was filming and journalists and Professors and conservators………it was like a party! But everyone had a single purpose; to discover more about these iconic objects and everyone worked long and hard hours. I acted as ‘master of Ceremonies’ and now realise the difference between management and leadership!

Calibrating hyperspectral imaging equipment during analysis of the medieval Gough map of Britain, one of the earliest maps to show Britain in recognisable geographic form

 

3D scanning of the Selden Map, a late Ming period watercolour map showing early trade shipping routes

 

Who inspires you?

So many people! I was at a talk the other day about bibliographies and one of my curatorial colleagues, who I work with on a daily basis, used language I really didn’t understand and demonstrated both his deep knowledge and my ignorance! And chemists who explain chemistry simply. And managers who can manage!

What do you love most about you job?

The variety, the people, discovering new things, rediscovering things that haven’t been seen for hundreds of years, giving talks and generally showing off the discoveries, working with wonderful people with wonderful objects.

In a single sentence, tell us what’s great about heritage science?

Heritage science is the perfect platform for enjoying cutting edge science in the company of culturally significant ‘things’.