VIL dataset of Lovatelli Venus 109608

The Lovatelli Venus, named after its discoverer, was unearthed in 1873 in a niche in the peristyle of the House of Diomedes I, 12-17 in Pompeii. The dating of the sculpture goes back to the Julian era. Her hair is gathered into two braids that part from the centre of her forehead to gather into a bun. She wears both a light chiton and a heavy himation that wraps around her hips and coils around her left arm. She holds an apple in her left hand, a clear reference to the Judgment of Paris. Sinuous and nude down to her legs, she displays visible traces of polychromy and holes in her earlobes, which, following the fashion of the time, likely held golden earrings, accompanied by bracelets on her wrists. While the chiton was certainly white, the himation shows large areas of yellow alternating with the green of the peplos. On the left side, the goddess leans against an anthropomorphic-style column decorated on the front with an archaizing idol. 

Visible induced luminescence (VIL) is a technique belonging to the MBI photographic techniques. The object is irradiated with a source of radiation that does not include the infrared spectral band. At the same time, the modified camera with a dedicated filter collects the infrared luminescence of selected pigments, such as Egyptian blue.   

A modified Canon EOS 400D camera without the internal ICF/AA filter, Canon EFS 18-135mm, F/3.5-5.6 IS lens and a IR bandpass filter B+W 093 IR 

Two Quantum T5D-R flashes, with the support of two QF80 Qflash UV/IR Wave Reflectors, provided with B+W 468 UV/IR cut 

Each image is acquired in *.RAW format, which contains low-processed data to preserve entirely the information recorded by the image sensor. The image parameters are calibrated with a ColorChecker and a self-build target with Egyptian blue. 

The image acquired is elaborated with a graphics editor program, saved in jpg file and rendered in black and white image where Egyptian blue appears like spots with high luminosity. 

f 9.0, time 1/200 s, manual mode, neutral balance, ISO 200 

Egyptian blue glowing white if present