Vision Quest
The search for a hidden masterpiece inspires an inventor to design a camera that can "see" through walls.
Emory University physicist Ray DuVarney '62, Ph.D. '68 likes to build things.
He's built a miniature railroad in his basement, complete with a tiny camera
on the engine. He' built radio-controlled airplanes. He's built cameras for
biology and astronomy. Now he wants to build a camera that can help look for
a lost Leonardo Da Vinci mural in Florence, Italy. This time, his invention
just might solve a 400-year-old art mystery.
Uncovering a Renaissance Masterpiece
DuVarney's involvement in this detective story began at a physics conference on solid state devices called "Scientific Detectors for Astronomy" that he attended in Sicily a few years ago. The plenary speaker at that conference, Maurizio Seracini, didn't talk about solid state devices as expected. Instead, he talked about Italian art. An art gumshoe and engineer, Seracini spoke about a centuries-old Leonardo da Vinci mural called "The Battle of Anghiari," which is believed to be hidden behind another painting on a wall in Florence's town hall, the Palazzo Vecchio.
To celebrate its new status as a republic in 1504, the Florence government commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint a mural for its town hall. Da Vinci's incomplete work depicted the fury of the battle for the Republic. In 1563, Giorgio Vasari painted his own fresco in the same spot. But some art historians believe that Vasari wouldn't have destroyed the da Vinci mural. For the past 32 years Seracini has been trying to find the da Vinci mural. He had come to the conference to ask the room full of physicists for help.
"Seracini mentioned that he had run into a wall, literally," explains DuVarney. "He couldn't drill a hole or take out a brick because it might harm the Vasari. He asked if anyone knew of a nondestructive way to see through the wall. Nobody did. In fact, I didn't either at the time. But that night as I was discussing the problem with my wife back at the hotel, I came up with an idea. I remember telling her, ‘I think I can do this!'"
DuVarney met with Seracini the next day and told him about his idea to build a camera that uses nuclear energy to locate the lost painting. On his return to Emory, DuVarney consulted colleagues, put together an interdisciplinary team of scientists and sent a proposal to Seracini. Seracini loved it, and the quest began.
"Seeing" with neutrons
DuVarney's idea is to build a camera that can "see" through the wall. His concept is based on the behavior of neutrons. When these particles hit heavy metals, like the heavy metals used in da Vinci's paint pigments, they are absorbed and quickly give off high-energy x-rays called gamma rays. Those gamma rays correspond directly to each particular type of metal. By counting and measuring the wavelengths of the returning gamma rays, DuVarney thinks he can plot an image of what is behind the wall.
"We think it might work," says DuVarney. "Scientists are never 100 percent sure of anything. We won't know until we try it out."
Cameras at Clark
DuVarney's interest in optics began in the basement of Clark's physics building. "I spent a lot of time in the basement doing optics experiments," he recalls. DuVarney went on to do his graduate work at Clark after receiving what he says was an offer he couldn't refuse. "I had started graduate work at the University of New Hampshire. Clark had just started a graduate program. When Roy Anderson, who was the chair of the department at the time, offered me a physics research fellowship at Clark, how could I refuse?" That research fellowship allowed DuVarney to extend his interest in optics and electron nuclear double resonance spectroscopy. After earning his Ph.D., he accepted a position at Emory, where for the past 40 years he has extended the work he began at Clark.
DuVarney has designed cutting-edge optical instruments for biology and astronomy, and co-founded a company that, with the help of a NASA grant, built the Wavefront Sensor Camera—a camera that eliminates the distortion caused by atmospheric turbulence. That camera is used by observatories around the world.
Next steps
Whether DuVarney will get to try his latest camera in Florence, though, is still up in the air. While the project has received Seracini's blessing, outside funding, and, after a long wait, approval from the Florence government, DuVarney and his team are still awaiting a start date. According to Seracini, the Florentine ministry is in the process of forming a panel to oversee the project. Then that panel has to review the project proposal. He can't say exactly when any of this will happen.
Whatever the outcome, DuVarney has enjoyed the project so far. He's learned a lot about art and perceptions of new technologies. He laughs, "If you mention the word ‘neutron,' people immediately think they will kill you. They will in very high doses, but our camera proposes using such low doses that the material could be safely transported via UPS."
So for now, DuVarney and his team are waiting. But DuVarvey doesn't mind. "The mural has been lost for 400 years. If it's there, it can wait to be re-discovered for a few more."
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