Microscopic cross-sections of old artworks

Materials research of microscopic cross-sections of paintings color layers is a very useful tool. It gives the restorers better insight into the technique, reveals how the artwork was created and what kind of materials was used. The proposed approach solves the problem of the proper spatial alignment of visible light and ultraviolet light images of cross-sections for further analysis by means of multimodal geometrical image registration. Then, the application offers primary segmentation of color layers. Second part of our work deals with automatic image retrieval, as a part of designing a database of laboratory research reports for restoration purposes. The aim is to facilitate search for reports about artworks with similar characteristic, based on the cross-section images.