WImBo — Watermark imaging box project: A digital art history data acquisition tool

摘要

The goal of the Watermark Imaging Box (WImBo) Project is to develop a low-cost, readily portable system for imaging artworks on paper, specifically etchings and drawings by the innovative and prolific Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669) and drawings by his pupils, in order to produce images of the watermark and chain lines in the paper support. The background of the WImBo project is described here as an extension of two still-active, pioneering projects in the emerging field of computational art history using digital image processing to address issues in art history scholarship. These two foundation projects are devoted to Chain Line Pattern Marking and Matching (CLiP) - founded in 2012 - and Watermark Identification in Rembrandt's Etchings (WIRE) - founded in 2015.