On Monday 6 February 2017, the Musée national d’histoire et d’art (MNHA) will welcome a team of experts from the Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique (IRPA, Brussels) to a work session involving the infrared examination of certain works by Albrecht Bouts, currently on display at the MNHA as part of the exhibition "Blood and Tears. Albrecht Bouts and Images of the Passion ".

The team will use infrared reflectography to analyse a selection of the displayed works, which involves the use of an infrared sensitive thermal camera.

According to Muriel Prieur, head of the restoration department, workshops and depot of the MNHA, who is in charge of coordinating this study session has said that: “Infrared reflectography makes it possible to ‘see’ through different pictorial layers and therefore to study strata that are invisible to the naked eye. The analysis of the underlying design of the paints examined makes it possible to see whether they are autographs or mechanical means of reproduction. The comparison of the execution of the preparatory drawings and the tools used should bring new data into the allocation of works."

For more information, see http://www.kikirpa.be/FR/122/172/Examen+infrarouge.htm