Using ultra-violet rays, restorers  have rediscovered rich original details of Giotto’s paintings in the Peruzzi Chapel in Florence. Hidden for centuries, more than a dozen restorers and researchers began the ambitious project of “non-invasive diagnostics” to ascertain the condition of the 12-meter-high chapel, which Giotto painted in about 1320.

“We have uncovered a secret Giotto,” said Isabella Lapi Ballerini, head of the prestigious art restoration laboratory, Opificio delle Pietre Dure. The study which was partly funded by a grant from the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles, aimed to gather information on the 170 square meter chapel to use as a road map and “hospital chart” for a future restoration.

During the four month project, restorers viewed the paintings under ultra-violet light, that allowed them to see amazing details not visible to the naked eye. “We knew we could get some very interesting results from our scientific diagnostics but when we looked under ultra-violet light, all of a sudden all these very faint paintings that were ruined by old restorations took on a new life,”said Cecilia Frosinini, co-coordinator of the project. What do you think?