Digital Restoration of aging art

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Last night I gave a short talk at my masonic lodge about the potential benefits of using digital restoration for some of the wonderful paintings inside historic Trinity Lodge.

These are but a few rough example of what is ultimately possible using digital photo enhancement (let alone complete physical cleaning and restoration of the paintings themselves.)

Using such techniques, it can become possible for us to see features previously hidden by years upon years of aging and exposure.

• Here is a BEFORE & AFTER image of the George Washington portrait hanging in our lodge room. Please note the rich colors of his Masonic apron, the gold leaf "G" with square and compasses on the chair behind him, the color of his Bible and even the faint hint of blue in his eyes!

• In the King Edward VII BEFORE & AFTER image, notice the amazing woodwork detail on the table, the various colors in his medals, and the fact that he is clearly holding a place in the book he has in his right hand (which I assume is the bible.) There also appears to be some detail to the carpet and a shimmering shine upon his shoes!

Once I have better source images to work with, I can show far more color and detail as was originally present in these beautiful portraits. I will also be examining some of the other works throughout the lodge. I have a professional photographer coming in to the lodge to take some super high resolution images (which will be shot at a better angle as well.)

Once I have a decent collection of before and after images, I will post them up on Trinity Lodge's web site.