Raphael’s “Madonna della Rosa’ mystery may have been solved by AI
Raphael’s 1518 The Madonna della Rosa painting depicting Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus has long been admired and debated. One of the most prolific works of the 16th century, art historians have often questioned its full attribution to Raphael.
In Spain, where the painting hangs, it’s always credited solely to Raphael, although a spectre of doubt shrouded the Joseph figure seen in it.
Hassan Ugail, professor of visual computing at the University of Bradford, has now concluded that most of the painting was done by Raphael’s hand, but Joseph by someone else.
After using an artificial intelligence algorithm, Ugail found that initial tests detected only 60 per cent of the work as Raphael’s.
The AI technology was trained by examining 49 confirmed Raphael paintings and can detect authenticity with 98 per cent accuracy.
“The computer is looking in very great detail at a painting,” Ugail told the Guardian. “Not just the face, it is looking at all its parts and is learning about colour palette, the hues, the tonal values and the brushstrokes.”
Ugail said the AI came to understand the highly-contested painting in a “microscopic way” after learning the critical traits of Raphael’s painting.
The landmark findings will be published in the Heritage Science journal and will hopefully put to bed continued debates about the artwork’s authenticity.
