Humber Lecture-Art + Technology: Curators, Conservators, and Coders on Some Medieval Bolognese Panels

Among the highlights of the NCMA’s European collection are five panels representing two important altarpiece commissions in medieval Bologna, one of the most dynamic artistic centers on the Italian peninsula in the 14th century. Lyle Humphrey, associate curator of European art and collections history, is joined by pioneering mathematician Ingrid Daubechies and former NCMA conservator William P. Brown to discuss a multiyear, multidisciplinary collaboration that led to new insights on the paintings and their place in Bolognese art.

Ingrid Daubechies, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University, has been dubbed by the New York Times “the godmother of the digital image” for her groundbreaking work in signal processing. She has studied, among other things, the compression of images and algorithms for recognizing art forgeries.

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Support provided by the Robert Lee Humber Lectures Endowment.

Image: Master of Saint James at the Battle of Clavijo, Panel from a dismembered altarpiece: Saint Catherine of Alexandria at the Wheel, circa 1330, tempera, gold leaf, and mosaic gold on panel, 25 — 32 1/4 in., Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation