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Le Lien Selected articles from Le Lien:
Scientific Imaging of Museum Objects Some 75 people, including Alliance Française members, UNM students, and others, gathered on April 15 in the UNM School of Architecture and Planning's splendid state-of-the-art Garcia Honda Auditorium to attend French geo-chemist Philippe Walter's lecture entitled, "Scientific Imaging of Museum Objects." Dr. Walter, who is currently director of the laboratory of the Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France located in the Louvre in Paris, brought together art history, chemistry, and high-tech imaging. Using the auditorium's giant screen he showed chemical analyses, enlarged photographs of very tiny parts of paintings, x-ray photographs, and photographs taken under infra-red and ultra-violet light. The intrigued audience learned fascinating details about the pigments used in ancient Egyptian artifacts. They saw a formal 19th century portrait of a military officer behind a quite different work by Picasso, a woman's face beneath a patch of grass in a work by Van Gogh, and an earlier form of the face of the Mona Lisa behind the one now seen in that famous painting. As the local sponsor, the Alliance Française d'Albuquerque provided an enjoyable reception after the lecture. Dr. Walter's tour was arranged by the Délégation Générale de l'Alliance Française aux Etats-Unis. |