Blog: July 9th (3)

Today the Sci | Art Nanolab received Giacomo Chiari, Chief Scientist of the Getty Museum. Being a student mostly interested in the sciences, it was a privilege to be able to hear him speak. We

Giacomo Chiari, Chief Scientist at the Getty

are nearly halfway with our program. For me, the line between science and art has been blurred. This is a great step because I have always stubbornly separated the two fields of education. When I thought about art relating to science, the first (and perhaps only) thing that I would be able to think of was art conservation. Hearing about the work of Mr. Chiari further convinced me that art and science were related in so many ways than just that.

Or maybe it IS just black, polluted water...

The most interesting use of science in art is in the painting of Bathsheba and David. This is featured in the Getty and has been restored dramatically through the use of scientific analysis. The water that Bathsheba bathes in appears dark. This baffled artists and viewers for a time. By analyzing the composition of the black paint, scientists were able to determine that it was composed of silver and not a black substance. Because the painting has been unpreserved for such a long time, the silver paint gradually turned into black. This is because silver is highly reactive, especially with sulfides. This results in a silver tarnish.

Later in the day, the group visited various labs, one of which was a lab focusing entirely on solar panels. I am in favor of finding new energy sources so that we may replenish our electricity more effectively in the future. So far, the effectiveness of a solar cell is about 8%. Scientists are continuing to discover more ways to build better solar cells. If, in the future, efficiency continues to climb, we may able to solve the world’s energy crisis!