The small show presents the results of a fascinating interdisciplinary project dedicated to the method of computed tomography in the study of works of ancient art, presented within the long-term exhibition “Medieval Art in Bohemia and Central Europe 1200⁠–⁠1550”.

The National Gallery Prague turned to the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which works with a patented device with a resolution many times higher than that of commonly used medical tomographs. Within the framework of a grant project supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (NAKI II), in which the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciecnes, the Institute of Technical and Applied Physics of the Czech Technical University in Prague, and the National Gallery Prague collaborated, several sculptures and paintings were examined to verify the benefits, but also the limits of computed tomography for the study of works of ancient art.

In nine stops, the visitor can learn in detail why and with what result the selected works were examined by computed tomography. Thanks to the documentation of the surveys, we can better understand what clues the work itself provides and when we have to look to modern survey methods for support. After an introduction to the topic in the opening part of the exhibition, examples of the use of this method on specific monuments of panel painting and sculpture in the exhibition space follow. The exhibition also includes an open children’s studio, inspired by the themes of artwork research in art collecting practice.

The small exhibition os open at Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia in Prague from 6.12.2022 to 23.4.2023

More information: https://www.ngprague.cz/en/event/3513/In-depth-and-on-the-surface