Analysing the Paper Texture in Van Dyck's Antwerp Sketchbook

Nikolaos G. Dessipris and David Saunders

Digital image processing techniques have been implemented in order to determine whether the same type of paper was used in a number of folios from a sketchbook attributed to Van Dyck. Digital filtering on images of contact B-radiographs showed that all but one of the folios analysed exhibited a very similar pattern of horizontal lines, suggesting that the paper used derived from the mould.