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In recent years, transformers, initially developed for language, have been successfully applied to visual tasks. Vision transformers have been shown to push the state of the art in a wide range of tasks, including image classification, object detection, and semantic segmentation. While ample research has shown promising results in art attribution and art authentication tasks using convolutional neural networks, this paper examines whether the superiority of vision transformers extends to art authentication, improving, thus, the reliability of computer-based authentication of artworks. Using a carefully compiled dataset of authentic paintings by Vincent van Gogh and two contrast datasets, we compare the art authentication performances of Swin transformers with those of EfficientNet. Using a standard contrast set containing imitations and proxies (works by painters with styles closely related to van Gogh), we find that EfficientNet achieves the best performance overall. With a contrast set that only consists of imitations, we find the Swin transformer to be superior to EfficientNet by achieving an authentication accuracy of over 85%. These results lead us to conclude that vision transformers represent a strong and promising contender in art authentication, particularly in enhancing the computer-based ability to detect artistic imitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multi-analytical approach for the characterization of colored modern paints was developed. • The method allowed to indentify pigments, binding media and additives for the organic and inorganic characterization of reference samples. • Chronological data about modern paint components was obtained by correlating the chemical information with data compiled from books, articles and patents. • Analytical results and chronological information were compiled into integrated charts to estimate the manufacturing period. • The developed methodology was successfully applied to corroborate the estimated date of an artwork presumably produced in 1946. Throughout the twentieth century, the paint industry developed a multitude of new binding media, pigments and additives that improved the appearance, ease of application, and performance of modern industrial paints. Depending on when and where they were first manufactured, and when they were introduced into paint formulations, some of these new paint components could conceivably be chronological markers useful in assigning attribution to specific artists or in the study of forgeries. The aim of this study was to develop a systematic methodology for characterizing organic and inorganic materials in modern paints, and search for potential chronological markers. Colored reference paints manufactured by local companies in Argentina from the 1940s and 1950s were studied with a multi-analytical approach that included Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. A wide range of compounds was identified due to the complementarity use of the analytical techniques. Historical references, patents, books, and scientific publications about the materials used in that time period provided invaluable information in establishing tentative timelines for modern paint components. This investigation was part of a broader interdisciplinary investigation of Concrete Art, an international art movement of the beginning of the twentieth century, which took place in Argentina and other nearby countries during the 1940s and 1950s. To prove the concept, a micro-sample from "Obra N° 171" by Raúl Lozza was analyzed. Organic and inorganic fractions were studied and the information collected was correlated with developed timelines to support the authentication process. Ultimately, the information from this study may also have a direct impact on the key areas of material characterization, aging behavior, and conservation of works of art made from these products. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual analysis and authentication of artworks are challenging tasks central to art history and criticism. This preliminary study presents a computational tool for scholars examining and authenticating a restricted class of paintings, with a specific focus on the paintings of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, more popularly known as Raphael. We applied transfer learning to the ResNet50 deep neural network for feature extraction and used a support vector machine (SVM) binary classifier in support of authentication. Edge detection and analysis algorithms, considered to be crucial for capturing the essence of Raphael's artistic style, including the brushwork signatures, were also integrated and are used as an authentication tool. The machine learning approach we have developed demonstrates an accuracy of 98% in image-based classification tasks during validation using a test set of well known and authentic paintings by Raphael. Of course, a full authentication protocol relies on provenance, history, material studies, iconography, studies of a work's condition, and more. Our work, then, contributes to just a portion of a full authentication protocol. Our findings suggest that machine learning methods, properly employed by experts aware of context, may enhance and expand traditional visual analysis for problems in art authentication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• The painting was dated 1492 (terminus post quem) and the wood came from Baltic forests connected to the port of Klaipeda as their outlet to the sea. • IR-reflectography and false-colour infrared made it possible to identify the original compositional revisions and subsequent restoration work. • Our results suggest the attribution of the painting to the Master of Frankfurt, an artist active in the city of Antwerp between 1480 and 1520. The panel painting depicting the Virgin Enthroned with Child underwent dendrochronological, multi-spectral, and stylistic/documental analyses. Dendrochronology facilitated the determination of the terminus post quem , which was 1492. Robust correlations with the Baltic1 reference chronology and its recent update, 2021BLT1, indicated a likely origin of the timber in the central-eastern Baltic area. Multi-spectral analyses, such as IR-reflectography and false-colour infrared analyses, aided in identifying preparatory drawings, compositional revisions, and later additions resulting from restoration efforts. By comparing the analysis results with the painting's recent history reconstruction, doubts regarding its possible attribution were effectively addressed. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the painting was executed by the so-called Frankfurt Master around the year 1508. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Librosdelacorte.es is the property of Instituto Universitario "La Corte en Europa" - IULCE and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article shows the possibilities of the method of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy for solving a wide range of materials science problems on the examples of studying the oxidation of a multilayer wear-resistant coating based on TiAlCrSiYN/TiAlCrN, chemical inhomogeneity in rolled high-strength steel, free-machining steel, and multilayer planar plasmon coatings for solar cells, as well as for more precise attribution of historical art ceramic items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 1950s, Lawrence Gowing, as Professor of Fine Art, King's College, Durham (now Newcastle University) curated significant exhibitions for the College's Hatton Gallery. During 1951 and 1952 these included Pictures from Collections in Northumberland, and two exhibitions concerned with the display of Poussin's series of paintings The Seven Sacraments, loaned from the National Gallery of Scotland. Pictures from Collections in Northumberland engaged Gowing with country house collections, art scholars and connoisseurs, and resulted in the reattribution and global relocations of artworks. The Poussin project similarly drew on academic expertise and involved the Hatton Gallery in what Gowing described as 'the scene of an experiment'. Concurrently, Gowing was also formulating the idea of creating an art collection for the Hatton Gallery. In this article, these projects are described, and examined for their contribution to the art market, art scholarship, art education, and the formation of a university art collection within the structure of a higher education institution. Consideration is also given to how Gowing's use of the Hatton Gallery may have set the scene for its use, later in the decade, for the experimental and acknowledged ground-breaking exhibition-making of Richard Hamilton and Victor Pasmore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, an analysis is offered of Athanasius Raczyński (1788-1874), a Polish aristocrat in Prussian diplomatic service and an outstanding art connoisseur and collector, as well as his comprehensive activity in the field of art during his stay in Copenhagen from 1830 to1834. This activity included purchasing works by Danish painters, lending paintings from his collection for exhibitions in Charlottenborg Palace, commenting on exhibitions held in the Royal Gallery of Christiansborg Palace, and questioning the attributions of various works exhibited there. It is argued that Raczyński was an important point of contact for the artistic relations between Denmark and other countries, and some of his activities became exemplary, influencing the attitudes of Copenhagen's art lovers and diplomats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new rock art sites in Irob district of eastern Tigrai, northern Ethiopia, are presented. One of the sites, Ra Bolo, contains images of domestic cattle and human figures while the other, Adhay Bolo, appears to contain only images of caprines, the only example of such a scene not just in the region but in all of Ethiopia. The sites fit well with the already established northern Ethiopian assemblage of paintings and engravings. The paintings belong to the earliest phase of Ethio-Arabian "Surre-Hanakiya" style, an attribution which is supported by other types of archaeological data. These new rock art sites are also compared with other rock art sites in Ethiopia. Archaeological faunal data from northern Ethiopia and elsewhere in Ethiopia is discussed and questions are raised about the validity of the hypothesized ages of the rock art in south-central Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The piano works of the Ukrainian composer Ivan Karabyts (1945-2002) developed in the wake of the influential avant-garde trends of the second half of the twentieth century. In the style of his piano opuses of the 1960s and 1970s, we can trace the influence of various stylistic discourses of the twentieth century. This stylistic versatility is, on the one hand, a general reflection of the cultural and artistic innovations of the postwar period and, on the other, a manifestation of the trends of the Sixtiers movement, in particular, the Kyiv Avant-Garde, whose activities were shaped by the innovative compositional techniques of the time as a reflection of the avant-garde intentions. The paper aims to study the genre and style attributions of piano works by Ivan Karabyts. The tasks include an analysis of the composer's style focusing on his piano works of the 1960s and 1970s: Sonata for piano (1964), diptych Prelude and Toccata (1965-1966) and 24 Preludes for piano (1976), intonation, thematic, genre and style of these opuses. The article raises the question of the influence of Borys Liatoshynsky on the piano concepts of Ivan Karabyts, both at the level of symphonism of the piano idea, which was initially tested in the field of instrumental compositions, and at the level of allusions to the works of Liatoshynsky himself in the 1920s in the genre of sonata and prelude. On the other hand, the example of the analyzed piano pieces shows the avant-garde principles of building a sonorous musical composition (atonality, diminished and enlarged intervals, septacords, claves, etc.). We should also mention the baroque principle, realized in the early diptych Toccata and Prelude, and the overall baroque direction of the composer's work in large forms in his mature period. The pinnacle of the composer's piano explorations is the 24 Preludes. Their musical language is original, complete with innovative stylistic trends. Important in understanding the composer's intention are the polyphonic method of deployment, the use of the principle of cyclicity, expressive aspects of toccata, stylistic allusions to iconic styles and composers' names, and special attention to the Baroque type of prelude. A separate issue is the symbolic and semantic context of the idea, which is formed in combination with improvisation, theatricalization of images, and symphonic generalization, forming lyrical, sound, tragic, and unifying imagery, their interaction aimed at creating the integrity of the idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Art / Umění is the property of Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Here presented is the first comprehensive inventory of the paintings on display in Gian Lorenzo Bernini's home by artists other than himself at the time of his death in November 1680. Although inventories of Bernini's household dating from 1681 to 1771 have previously been published, none by itself is sufficient to provide a complete catalogue of the artist's collection. By collating the family inventories with what is known of Bernini's career, personal and professional relationships, the oeuvre of the artists identified in the inventories, and data from art market records and provenance databases, the author has compiled the most detailed description of Bernini's collection so far available, including, wherever possible, proposed new attributions, more accurate subject descriptions, and indications of the present whereabouts of the works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay zooms into the topic of art forgeries and how the refinement of authentication methods and the dissemination of the resulting expert knowledge has led to detectives and forgers alike being better prepared. Following a brief navigation into the mechanics of art forensics, it discusses several relevant case studies that display the importance of authority delegation in solving the puzzle of authentication. In art attribution, a consensus needs to be reached between the main forgery detection “sensors”: the eyes of art historian for stylistic diagnostic; the eyes of hardware analytical and optical devices that gather scientific evidence; the eyes of the scientific experts to interpret the latter properly. Particular focus is given to the correlated effects activated by the increasing popularity of digitization of cultural heritage (CH) objects. Digital repositories of cultural heritage scientific data have themselves become a subject for forgery and contamination. This introduces the need to dive into a new typology of sensors: forensic software, that can identify the alteration of scientific images. Nonetheless, software may also be employed by forgers to maliciously modify digital data in order to influence a certain diagnostic. This essay frames all the above-mentioned aspects in a cyclic adversarial process, where the progress of sensors determines that of forgers and vice versa. Finally, ethical and legal considerations are explored with respect to the prevention of art forgeries and the reciprocal influence between researchers and forgers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the discovery of don Paolo's Albera oil portrait, I review the narratives of the historiography about the relationship between the painter Enrico Reffo and the Salesian Congregation's art patronage, aiming to rebuild the material history of the portrait and to consider a possible attribution to this painter and his school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to present the new purchase by The Royal Castle in Warsaw–Museum of a spalliera by Marco Zoppo. The work was first published by Paul Schubring in his catalogue of Italian secular painting Cassoni. Truhen und Truhenbilder der italienischen Frührenaissance. Ein Beitrag zur Profanmalerei im Quattrocento in 1915. The publication by Berenson in 1968 of its pendant of unknown whereabouts – formerly in the Forbes Collection (London) and Galleria Luigi Bellini (Florence) – has enabled not only the identification of the subject of both paintings as Story of Susannah, but also their attribution to Marco Zoppo. The setting of the two spalliere was probably completed by two fragments first gathered and published by Roberto Longhi in 1940. They are of the same height and represent episodes from Shooting at Father’s Corpse in the Los Angeles County Museum and the second, now of unknown whereabouts, formerly in a private collection in Genoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For almost 40 years, the British jurist and Fellow of the Royal Society Taylor White (1701–1772) actively engaged in commissioning artists to paint plants and animals for his 'paper museum'. White amassed a collection of almost 1000 drawings of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians and reptiles, acquired by McGill University in 1927. His first recorded purchase was a watercolour by George Edwards (1694–1773). He also acquired works from Eleazar Albin (fl. 1690–ca 1742) and Jacob van Huysum (ca 1687–1740), but the majority of the watercolours were painted by two artists, Charles Collins (ca 1680–1744) and Peter Paillou (ca 1712–1782). In 2018 a research group at McGill University Library received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the project 'Undescrib'd: Taylor White's paper museum'. The project produced a complete catalogue of the White collection, including attribution of all unsigned works, and digitized all paintings and notes. This paper documents the process surrounding the original creation of the collection, reviewing the careers of the artists and White's relationship with them, the value of the commissions and the challenges of painting natural history subjects. It also describes the mechanics of painting, including pigments, papers used and artists' techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Painters, sculptors, and other visual artists have a unique set of issues to consider when planning their estates. Unlike other asset classes, inventories of unsold works present a challenge both in regard to disposition and the thornier questions of taxation and valuation. The art world is a capricious landscape for attorney and artist alike. This article explores practical implications for practitioners whose clients range from the internationally celebrated to the more locally renowned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soffientino has written a remarkable book about Manfred's patronage before and during his short reign. As noted, in the final third of the book (the last two sections) the author takes on the attribution of miscellaneous works of art that have been associated with Manfred ("di epoca tardo-sveva"). She also situates Manfred's patronage in the context of the baronial networks whose actions and patronage deeply conditioned the political and military events of his reign, for better or for worse. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Stratum Plus Journal is the property of P.P. Stratum plus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Interdisciplinary study to ascertain production date and place of an oak sculpture • X-ray CT images provided tree-ring patterns on the widest sections and aided dating • Dendrochronology suggests differentiated wood supply in Netherlandish workshops • Determining wood provenance can assist in attribution of Netherlandish works of art • Imaging science is the future of non-invasive research of historical art objects Studying the wood of art objects such as sculptures, panel paintings and furniture can be crucial to elucidate their chronology and production centre. Here we present an approach that considers the provenance of the wood and its potential availability in different areas as a means to identify the provenance of wooden art objects. We illustrate this approach with an interdisciplinary study aimed to determine the date and provenance of the Woman with lantern , a carved altar fragment from the Rijksmuseum's collections (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). The origin of this object is undocumented, but based on stylistic and iconographic features its provenance was proposed to be the altarpiece of Rennes cathedral (France), carved in Antwerp (Belgium) around 1520 C.E.. However, doubts arose when curators tested the potential fit of the sculpture in that altarpiece and could not find a neat match. Dating and provenancing the wood of the sculpture by standard dendrochronological means failed to produce a date, and comparison of the tree-ring pattern from the sculpture with those of the sculptures from Rennes altarpiece delivered no results either, supporting the suspicion that the Woman with lantern belonged elsewhere. In 2019, X-ray computed tomography (CT) provided digital cross-sections throughout the sculpture and a longer tree-ring series was obtained. This time, the outermost ring was dated to the year 1487 C.E.. The tree was estimated to have been cut after 1495 C.E., indicating a likely production in the first quarter of the 16th century. The origin of the timber in the eastern Netherlands/northwest Germany, combined with empirical evidence about timber availability in various regions of the Low Countries at that time, suggests that the sculpture was made in a workshop located north of the Rhine in the (current) Netherlands, rather than Antwerp. This research has led to the hypothesis that workshops north and south of the Rhine river branches in the Low Countries were supplied by forests located in different areas. If proven correct, establishing the wood provenance will assist in determining the origin of Netherlandish works of art from the late-Gothic and Northern Renaissance periods. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although incomparably richer than it has ever been before, ours is still a world of tremendous deprivation and disturbing inequality. In addition to being composite and irregular, inequality is also "slippery", both due to the multiplicity of terrains, often inaccessible and unknown in which it is born, and the way it evolves and is perceived. In this work, starting from the images of the national photography competition promoted in 2017 by the NGO Oxfam Italia, those same inequalities made up of numbers and percentages are "brought into focus" through the approach of visual sociology. The interpretative analysis carried out on the images has provided elements to go beyond the external datum, offering the possibility to advance, through a work of perceptual organization, classification, interpretation and attribution of meanings, to the discovery and explanation of the deeper meaning of inequalities. What will emerge will be a multidimensional imaginary, consisting not only of poverty and marginalization but also of indifference, loneliness and vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie is the property of Vittorio Klostermann and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

»[W]hile one can do nothing about choosing one’s relatives, one can, as artist, choose one’s ›ancestors‹.« These words lead to the heart of a dispute between Ralph Ellison and the Dissent editor Irving Howe in the early sixties which had an impact far beyond literary criticism and scholarship. From this well documented controversy we can learn something about both the power of attributions of belonging and the art of evading them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK High Court case of Thwaytes v. Sotheby's related to the attribution on a work of art alleged to be by Caravaggio. This article, consequent to a contextualization into the background and facts of the case, will argue that the case of Thwaytes not only provides a highly useful pedagogical prism through which to learn the minutiae of the authentication process of artworks and the problems that arise through that process – it also leads to the opportunity to examine in more depth the nature of the author, identity, the self, and the work of art itself. In so doing, it will specifically draw upon the work of Jacques Derrida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores how connoisseurship intersect with computer vision and machine learning in digital art history. Topics discussed include comparison between human connoisseurs and computer-based connoisseurship in terms of art attribution, the vulnerabilities of human connoisseurs which tend to range from subjectivity to ignorance, and the possible creation of an artificial observer in order to delegate art attribution to a computer.

This article examines a group of drawings of comic‐grotesque subjects (morris dancers, drinkers, and the Henpecked Husband) attributed to Verrocchio. Discussion of these unusual works has previously focused on their attribution, and their relationship to Leonardo's grotesques. The present study interrogates their function and meaning. It considers their derivation from northern European imagery, and how this might have interfaced with contemporary Florentine artistic interests, from ideas on variety and invention to the depiction of the figure in movement. It also explores the idea of the drawings as visual counterparts to 'low style' vernacular poetry from the circle of Lorenzo the Magnificent, offering a new reading of them in relation to the broader context of fifteenth‐century Florentine vernacular culture, both visual and literary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Feministische Studien is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Opuscula Historae Artium is the property of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of SituArte is the property of Universidad del Zulia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Angiotensin-(1-9), a component of the non-canonical renin-angiotensin system, has a short half-life in blood. This peptide has shown to prevent and/or attenuate hypertension and cardiovascular remodeling. A controlled release of angiotensin-(1-9) is needed for its delivery to the heart. Our aim was to develop a drug delivery system for angiotensin-(1-9). Thermosensitive liposomes (LipoTherm) were prepared with gold nanoclusters (LipoTherm-AuNC) to increase the stability and reach a temporal and spatial control of angiotensin-(1-9) release. Encapsulation efficiencies of nearly 50% were achieved in LipoTherm, reaching a total angiotensin-(1-9) loading of around 180 μM. This angiotensin-(1–9)-loaded LipoTherm sized around 100 nm and exhibited a phase transition temperature of 43 °C. AuNC were grown on LipoTherm and the new hybrid nanosystem showed energy absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range. By NIR laser irradiation, a controlled release of angiotensin-(1-9) was achieved from the LipoTherm-AuNC nanosystem. These nanosystems did not show any cytotoxic effect on cultured cardiomyocytes. Biological activity of angiotensin-(1-9) released from the LipoTherm-AuNC-based nanosystem was confirmed using an ex vivo Langendorff heart model. This graphical abstract was created using images from Servier medical art commons attribution 3.0 Unported license. (http://smart.servier.com). These images are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 Unported license. Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the concerns regarding the sale by Sotheby's through private treaty of a painting alleged to be by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals. It mentions that Sotheby's refunded the purchase price and sought reimbursement from the sellers. It discusses about the contractual framework between the parties in rescinding the sale and returning the purchase price to the buyer.

The geomorphological context of the Côa Valley open-air Palaeolithic rock art offers a unique opportunity to analyse its stratigraphic relationship with preserved Quaternary deposits and to reconstruct those that may have since disappeared. Litho-stratigraphic units, discontinuities and their architecture are interpreted in the context of the valley’s evolution and its environment. The spatial distribution of rock art panels, chronological attribution of the rock art and their geomorphological context can help us to reconstruct the topography of the valley at the time of its production and to identify where rock art panels could be buried, as well as to establish their chronology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many manuscripts and editions of Mush-o Gorbeh [Mouse and Cat] have been listed or published as the most famous work of Obaid Zakani; however, its comparison and examination clarifies that these various editions of Mouse and Cat are significantly different in terms of language, style, and even story. These narrations are largely considered as belated and folkloric compared to Obaid Zakani's era and language. Therefore, many people have hesitated to attribute Mouse and Cat to Obaid. In order to investigate this attribution, these works should be compared, so that their shared roots can be identified. This paper merely follows this in three phases. In the first section, different editions of Mouse and Cat are compared and grouped based on the ending verses of the story. In the second section, the ending of the story is examined in all narrations. In the final section, some hypotheses are given regarding the relationship of these narrations, their origins, and other possible narrations based on the verses recorded in these editions of Mouse and Cat. They are, then, compared with the incomplete but older manuscripts. These editions of Mouse and Cat can be grouped in nine categories in terms of narration, and in two general classes in terms of story, based on the style and language. These very differences and a few ancient recordings that can only be seen in some of the belated and folkloric manuscripts indicate that none of these editions of Mouse and Cat can be attributed to Obaid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Alan Bennett's Single Spies (1988), an espionage double bill comprising "An Englishman Abroad" and "A Question of Attribution," proposing that the personalizing of social, political, and historical themes, as well as the astute documentation of a decaying Englishness and its class system in both plays, are representative of the work of a playwright whose output deserves serious critical attention. The study focuses on how Bennett historicizes the actions of his infamous protagonists (Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt) while challenging assumptions regarding patriotism. Single Spies is a Cambridge Five franchise, demonstrating the playwright's characteristic wit, irony, and reflection on personal and national identity, illusion, and sacrifice. The one-act plays each deal with a key figure in the notorious Cambridge spy ring, enhancing the dramatic effect through the use of onstage theatrical and visual allusions. In the first play, references to William Shakespeare's Hamlet (c 1599), together with English music, highlight Burgess's duality and the bitter reality of his post-defection life in Russia, while the second play is notable for its use of two paintings (Titian and a Venetian Senator and Allegory of Prudence) as key images and conceits suggesting the gradual uncovering of the Cambridge Five. The paper therefore suggests that Bennett's ability to lift the veil of personal and institutional secrecy, while airing his own ambivalence, confirms him as a skillful, if academically undervalued, commentator on Englishness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to systematize ceramics in the exteriors of the entrance groups of separate multistorey buildings of two residential areas on the Left bank of Kyiv (Pіvnіchno-Brovarsky and Voskresensky areas), analyze their plastic, textured and coloristic features. The methodological basis of the study is a comprehensive approach to the analysis of ceramoplastics, using the principle of historicism. The following scientific methods are combined: analytical – to study the state of elaboration of the chosen topic; systematization – for processing archival and literary sources; comparative-typological – for attribution and division of ceramoplastics into groups; artistic and stylistic analysis of works – to determine the characteristics of artistic manners of artists. The iconographic method required a comparative analysis, due to which comparison of individual images on ceramoplastics with works of Ukrainian Folk Arts, as well as ancient Hellenic and Scythian art. Scientific novelty. New samples of architectural decor made in the Kyiv Experimental Workshop of Artistic Ceramics have been introduced into scientific circulation a significant part of which was not mentioned in archival sources. Peculiarities of artistic and stylistic manners of individual authors, borrowing of single iconographic schemes from the art of the Ancient World (N. Fedorova and G. Sharay) are revealed. The idea of the range of themes in the work of V. Orlov on the basis of attribution of the painting of ceramics with phyto- and ornithomorphic motifs on the entrance groups of the house on the street Myropilska, 3 in Kyiv. Conclusions. There are two main directions in the decoration of the entrance groups of residential buildings of typical urban development of the 1970‘s – early 1980‘s: thematic painted and a variant with prefabricated tiles. The ceramic decor highlights figurative, ornamental and abstract compositions, the artists‘ desire for diversity. The specifics of ceramic decoration are considered, special experiments are emphasized by the Kyiv Experimental Workshop of Art Ceramics in order to identify new decorative possibilities of glazed ceramics, to create a richer color palette and texture. The names of artists N. Fedorova, G. Sharay, О. Lobov, V. Orlov have been established, who used motives and color pallets of Ukrainian Folk Arts, as well as individual iconographic schemes and stylistics of the art of Ancient Greece and the Scythians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the many works attributed mistakenly to Attar ē Neyshaburi is Pandnameh; a poem that its attribution to Attar is still doubtful among some literary critics. This article studies the stylistic features of Pandnameh in terms of aspects of structure, language, and content and compares it with the definitive poems of Attar. The results showed that the attribution of Pandnameh to Attar is wrong; because, this work has a significant difference with the speech and thoughts of Attar in his poems from all three of these stylistic aspects. That is, itʼs form and structure, with the form of Attar’s poems, is neither proportional in terms of volume of verses, nor in terms of the way of expressing the contents. From the point of view of poetic language, which has received a considerable degree of differences between Pandnameh and the works of Attar, there are significant discrepancies in terms of the use of vocabulary and linguistic elements along with the syntax and compilation of the word between these two categories. The ideas in this work are also distinguished from the thoughts of the Attar’s poems, both in the teachings of religion and Sufism and in general ethical advices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A complex conservation process revealed the layer of the painting in its original subtlety and delicate retouchings recreated the integral surface of the painting. As a result, we can confirm that it is a painting of high artistic quality dating most probably from the middle of the 17th century, painted on an oak panel of German origin. We remain doubtful about the Internet auction suggested authorship, as the painting does not reach the artistic quality of Jan Davidsz Dé Heem, a top rank artist from the Netherlands. It is possible to continue with the art-historical analysis (and other investigations) of the painting, to find further proof for the hypothetical dating and maybe even reach an attribution but we must not forget to ask the questions whether and to whom it would be necessary. What matters for the owner of the painting is the fact that an artwork which decorates the wall of his home has both aesthetic and historical value - even without knowing its exact date or the painter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the main issues in professional attribution and methodology for the expert assessment of decorative porcelain works. Expert assessment of such works consists of a range of examinations, including studies of technological peculiarities, marking of items, stylistic, heraldic and epigraphic analysis. The history of Russian porcelain is heavily influenced by various trends in European art, as well as events in Russian history. In each stage of development of locally produced porcelain, marks on the items were used in different way and presented a different range of information. Interpretation of these marks provides an important source of attribution and establishment of provenance and, therefore, is of vital importance for any professional working with Russian porcelain. This article provides information on the porcelain markings from the establishment of first porcelain factories in eighteenth-century Russia during the imperial period, before discussing markings on Soviet porcelain and, finally, giving examples of contemporary marks used by modern Russian factories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naïve art is still under-represented in Russian museum and professional art institutions, with the works and heritage by many artists remaining under-exhibited and underresearched. Albert Korovkin (1935) is an artist whose name features in the World Encyclopaedia of Naive Art. His works entered the collection of the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts as part of the gift from Yevgeny Roizman. Among the donated works, there were about 50 pieces of glass-blowing art. Korovkin worked as a glassblower at the Institute of the Ural Scientific Centre, where he manufactured scientific equipment, but did not have a professional glassblower education. Since the collector did not register attribution data at the time of the acquisition of works, any information on the technology of manufacturing works, as well as a comparative analysis of the series of paintings and glass-blowing works, is relevant. This article presents an attempt of such an analysis providing relevant information on the artist’s background, style and technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the use of photographic images of art pieces as a tool for assessment and attribution, focusing on Vasily Ivanovich Shukhayev’s (1887–1973) paintings and drawings. Shukhayev was a famous Russian and Soviet artist, who contributed to greatly to Russian art during the six decades of his artistic career. The artist’s works are kept in many state museums and private collections in Russia and abroad, and are also in high demand on the antiques market. Assessment and attribution of his works is, therefore, a pressing issue. Previously photographs of the pieces made at the exhibitions or during the plein-air paintings by the artist himself, as well as other photographic materials showing the artist with his works or their fragments were believed to be of low importance to the experts. The most important photos are those made within the artist’s lifetime or which belonged to the artist personally, especially if they contain inscriptions on the back. Such photos help to understand what the missing pieces look like, to confirm authorship and the creation dates, to find its variations and copies, to detect fake works, to show the artist’s working style and work stages and sometimes to prove that the artist painted the painting over (typical for V.I. Shukhayev). Altogether, creating a compilation of photographic images of works lost or distributed over the world helps shed light on the painter’s artistic career, a task particularly important for research, for museums and exhibitions, for educational work for monographs and catalogues development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed a technological investigation of Judith with the Head of Holofernes (a copy of Cristofano Allori’s work) from the Nizhny Tagil Museum of Fine Arts to clarify the painting’s attribution. According to the current attribution, the copy was created in the 17th century Italy. Pigment analysis using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy was undertaken in order to provide indicators of the approximate date of the Nizhny Tagil copy. The analysis results – supplemented with evidence from UV-imaging and micro-imaging, radiographic examination and studies of the paintings’ support, ground and paint layers – agree with the existing attribution but do not necessarily confirm it. Comparison of the technical characteristics of the Nizhny Tagil Judith with the techniques of Western and Russian painting allows us to extend the dating. In addition, certain fragments of the painting were examined to provide insight into specifics of differences between the copy and the original, which turned out to be mainly the results of previous restorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the issues of examination and attribution of artworks. The central focus is on the results of studies of four West European paintings from the collection of Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts. The paper describes the results of technical and technological examination of Still Life with Broken Game and Watermelon, which was attributed in the process of studying the brushwork to Pietro Navarra, a little-known early eighteenth-century Roman artist. As a result of the search for attribution, the painting Eleazar and Rebekah, previously attributed to an unknown Italian master, was revealed to have connections with the work of seventeenth-century Neapolitan artist Andrea Malinkoniko. The painting The Death of Camilla, long considered to be the work of Carlo Chignani, has been re-attributed as The Death of Dido possibly by the mid-seventeenth-century Lombard artist Carlo Francesco Nuvolone. The painting Singing Actors is dated to the end of the seventeenth century and is attributed to the Roman master known by the pseudonym Pseudo Carocelli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly developed high-tech methods of attribution and assessment have sometimes been viewed as replacements for more traditional approaches. This article uses three case studies to examine the role of documents and published resources as the important sources of information for the attribution of malachite pieces commissioned to the European artists by Nikolay Demidov. The first case highlights the role of archival documents in the identification of the elements and complete reconstruction of an important table centrepiece. The second example uses the materials published by the media of different countries made accessible by the digitalization process, and the placement of this digital copy in the open databases. With the support from the three articles published in the English, French and Vatican journals, it was possible to identify author, date of creation and the relation to the client for one pair of columns, which are the first example of the architectural use of malachite. The third case shows the role of iconographic sources – original pieces and printed graphics – in the attribution of the pieces from the presumably lost collection of Russian malachite created for the First World’s Exhibition in London in 1851. In conclusion, the author discusses the importance of the traditional methods of assessment and attribution based on the documents and printed sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares the representation of the November 2017 missile test in news reports by The New York Times and China Daily. The U.S. reports embody to some extent a Cold War mindset by tending to internationalize the issue and make itself appear as a victim of the crisis. Through the attribution of blame, the U.S. seeks to evade its responsibilities and maintain its hegemonic status. The Chinese reports intimate that the crisis is mainly a problem between the U.S. and the Korean Peninsula. These reports tend to present China as a responsible stakeholder seeking to help solve the issue through communication and dialogue. The analysis of these differences is informed theoretically by perceived differences in culture. The paper concludes that the discourse patterns of these reports index a rising China and a shift in the balance of power in international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines the Narcissus (c. 1599–1620) that has been attributed to Caravaggio through the lens of cultural history before exploiting a methodology that understands Caravaggio's paintings and those of his followers as works that thematize their own fictiveness. I move beyond this method by thinking about how such self‐aware paintings could likewise thematize the potential fictiveness of visual experience. In so doing, I examine scientific medicine prevalent in Caravaggio's age to explain the ambiguities, dislocations, and shifting identities raised in part by a reading of the canvas's self‐reflexivity and to shed light on its sensual power. I argue that this painting shows Narcissus's own narcotic‐induced hallucination and could have cued a similar response in the painting's early modern beholders. The Narcissus both portrays a physical and emotional malaise and functioned as an instrument for alleviating it in the observer, first through an amplification of symptoms and then by opening a speculative route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 2 decades, 5 skills relating to visual (performing rehearsed music, sight-reading), aural (playing by ear, playing from memory), and creative (improvising) aspects of music performance have been defined and investigated. To date, however, there has been little research investigating the relationship between these 5 aspects of performance on general musicianship, and none using psychometric measures. The aim of this study was to empirically investigate this relationship through the use of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). With the exception of 'Sight-reading,' results show that all skills were correlated with musical sophistication, with the 'Playing by Ear' skill having the highest correlation (explaining 47.0% of the variance). Further analysis with individual Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index subscales revealed specific interrelationships and attributions to Western art music-making practices. For example, the Performing Rehearsed Music skill was predicted by the Musical Training, Emotions, and Singing Abilities subscales; Playing by Ear was predicted by the Active Engagement and Singing Abilities subscales; and Improvising was predicted by the Active Engagement subscale. Only Sight-Reading had no significant predictors. The implications for each skill toward current musical training methods is highlighted and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]