﻿NOTE 
  ON 
  THE 
  PRINCIPLES 
  AND 
  PROCESS 
  OF 
  X-RAY 
  

   EXAMINATION 
  OF 
  PAINTINGS 
  

  

  By 
  Alan 
  Burroughs 
  

   Research 
  tcorker 
  in 
  X 
  raif 
  at 
  the 
  Fogg 
  Museum 
  of 
  Art, 
  Cambridge, 
  Mass. 
  

  

  [With 
  9 
  plates] 
  

  

  Without 
  special 
  training 
  in 
  science, 
  the 
  experimenter 
  in 
  the 
  X 
  ray- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  pictures 
  can 
  receive 
  encouragement 
  from 
  an 
  interest 
  in 
  art 
  and 
  

   connoisseurship 
  sufficient 
  to 
  attempt 
  a 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  scientific 
  study 
  of 
  

   paintings. 
  He 
  feels 
  that 
  a 
  reliable 
  method 
  of 
  analysis 
  is 
  needed 
  to 
  

   supplement 
  the 
  emotional 
  process 
  which 
  is 
  usual 
  in 
  criticism. 
  It 
  

   might 
  be 
  considered 
  presumptuous 
  were 
  there 
  not 
  expert 
  physicists 
  

   who 
  have 
  prepared 
  the 
  way. 
  Dr. 
  Andre 
  Cheron 
  in 
  Paris, 
  Doctor 
  

   Faber 
  in 
  Germany, 
  and 
  others 
  were 
  the 
  pioneers. 
  Even 
  without 
  their 
  

   specific 
  experiments, 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  X 
  rays 
  to 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  pic- 
  

   tures 
  must, 
  it 
  seems, 
  have 
  followed 
  naturally 
  from 
  the 
  broadening 
  of 
  

   the 
  X-ray 
  processes 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  include 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  industrial 
  and 
  social 
  

   uses. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  present 
  case, 
  however, 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  use 
  for 
  the 
  

   rays 
  came 
  by 
  chance 
  from 
  the 
  suggestion 
  of 
  Russell 
  A. 
  Plimpton, 
  

   director 
  of 
  the 
  Minneapolis 
  Institute 
  of 
  Arts, 
  who 
  wished 
  to 
  know 
  

   the 
  contents 
  of 
  a 
  mummy 
  case 
  in 
  the 
  Institute's 
  collection. 
  The 
  

   X 
  ray 
  showed 
  a 
  broken 
  skeleton 
  and 
  an 
  extra 
  skull 
  reposing 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  the 
  thigh 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  body. 
  That 
  presented 
  another 
  and 
  

   quite 
  different 
  problem. 
  What 
  struck 
  the 
  imagination 
  of 
  the 
  curator 
  

   of 
  paintings 
  was 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  painted 
  ornament 
  on 
  the 
  outside 
  

   of 
  the 
  case 
  was 
  recorded 
  faintly 
  on 
  the 
  X-ray 
  film. 
  With 
  permission 
  

   from 
  Mr. 
  Plimpton, 
  the 
  author 
  then 
  X 
  ra3'ed 
  a 
  few 
  paintings, 
  finding 
  

   much 
  to 
  puzzle 
  him 
  and 
  some 
  details 
  worth 
  study. 
  It 
  was 
  not 
  long 
  

   before 
  an 
  opportunity 
  was 
  found 
  to 
  present 
  an 
  outline 
  of 
  experiments 
  

   for 
  development 
  to 
  the 
  Cleveland 
  Museum 
  of 
  Art. 
  Director 
  Whit- 
  

   ing 
  thereupon 
  forwarded 
  the 
  outline 
  to 
  the 
  Fogg 
  Museum 
  of 
  Art 
  at 
  

  

  529 
  

  

  