Artificial Intelligence identified details in famous Renaissance work

The work Madonna della Rosa is attributed to the famous Renaissance painter Raphael. However, now an Artificial Intelligence (AI) has discovered that the picture may not have been painted by him, at least not completely.

For those in a hurry:

• Discussions regarding the authenticity of the painting Madonna della Rosa has been discussed for some time;
• Because of this, artificial intelligence was used to investigate whether the work had been made by the painter Rafael;
• The results showed that the majority did, but one of the faces in the painting was painted by someone else.

Experts believe that the Madonna della Rosa was painted between 1518 and 1520, but since the mid-1800s some experts believe that the work was not completely painted by Raphael. The painting contains representations of the Madonna, the Child, Saint John and Saint Joseph, however, it is thought that the latter may have been painted by someone else.

Defining whether or not this part of the canvas was painted by Raphael would require several pieces of evidence that could not be seen by human eyes. However, in a study published in December 2023 in the journal Heritage Scienceresearchers have developed artificial intelligence that can thoroughly investigate the work.

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Artificial intelligence revealed that the painting was painted by two people

The algorithm was based on the painter’s other works, having been trained to recognize the brushstrokes, color palette, shading techniques and other aspects of Rafael’s works. The method demonstrated an accuracy of 98% to identify the artist’s paintings, but when it came to evaluating the Madonna della Rosathe results were inconclusive.

Therefore, the researchers asked the algorithm to investigate faces individually instead of the entire work. The Madonna, Child and Saint John were painted by Raphael, but it is unlikely that Saint Joseph was painted either.

The discovery supports previous debates that have suggested that the fourth face was not original to Raphael, as the fourth face appears “less well done” than the rest of the work. This part of the painting is believed to have been done by Giulio Romano, one of the artist’s apprentices.

Thus, Artificial Intelligence shows that in the future it will be able to assist specialists in works to authenticate works.