Research, art history, and imaging science came together at RIT this week
Dr. Roxanne Radpour, assistant professor in the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware, with a joint appointment in UD's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Dr. John Delaney, senior imaging scientist at the National Gallery of Art, Washington stage equipment for imaging of the manuscript leaf in the Cultural Heritage Imaging Lab at RIT.
The Cultural Heritage Imaging Lab — a joint effort between the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science in the College of Science and Museum Studies in the College of Liberal Arts — hosted a team of researchers from the National Gallery of Art for work connected to The CIIIPRESES Project.
This research initiative focuses on medieval choir book leaves, especially those attributed to the Master of the Cypresses. By using advanced imaging and scientific-art historical research, the project helps scholars compare dispersed manuscript fragments across collections to better understand pigments, materials, workshop practices, attribution, and relationships among individual leaves.
One of those leaves is held at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. Imaging the Rochester leaf will allow researchers to compare it with data already collected from Princeton and the National Gallery of Art, helping test key questions about whether the leaf may have been created by a different illuminator than previously studied works.
The visit highlights the power of interdisciplinary research — bringing together museum studies, imaging science, art history, conservation, and cultural heritage preservation.
