July 2013 Painting by Dali with handwritten note and the artist's signature
The painting came to the laboratory with an almost illegible dedication on the lower right-hand side and an even more illegible signature. A preliminary handwriting report ruled out the possibility that it was Dali's as the date was prior to the artist's birth.
With the positive results of the molecular analysis of pigments, which dated from the artistic period and were used in the artist's palette, we then began the handwriting analysis of the dedication, date and signature on the painting. These inscriptions were made with black fountain pen, meaning that infra-red reflectography was not an option. In the end, the application of chromatic luminescence was decisive, first for legibility reasons and then for the identification of Salvador Dali's handwriting.
- By applying a filter in the visible spectrum of the electromagnetic field (380-490nm), the response of the dedication and all its content was clearly luminescent, even showing the correction of a misspelling, also in black, which was very typical of the artist – a confusion between the letters "b" and "v". A single reflectographic examination would clearly not have revealed that this correction was made at a later date and using a different black ink to the original
Traditional analyses with ultraviolet radiation helped make out any manipulation, but fell short in detecting the two inks used and especially in identifying the correction itself.
The research continued with the visit to Mallorca of renowned international Salvador Dalí expert NICOLÁS DESCHARNES, not only to see the original painting, but also to visit our laboratory and see at first hand the positive results of the expert analysis performed.
- http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/07/02/baleares/1372754540.html