Computational imaging methods on artworks from the Rijksmuseum collection

by Džemila Šero (University of Twente)

In the context of decorative arts, fingerprints have never received sufficient attention from a scientific perspective, even though these are often observed on many artworks created with paint, clay, wax, or bronze. Human impressions detected on works of arts are too readily labelled as ‘fingerprints’ even though an extensive and scientifically driven investigation is missing, thus leading to incorrect or incomplete analyses of such traces. During this talk, I will discuss how biometrics and computer vision, combined with expertise in conservation, art history and forensic science, are necessary to analyze human impressions on works of art. The case study of a sculpture from the Rijksmuseum collection acquired with micro computed tomography (FleX-ray lab, CWI in Amsterdam) will be presented.

Since September 2024, Dzemila Sero is appointed Assistant Professor in Biometrics and Computer Vision at the Data Management and Biometrics Lab at the University of Twente.
Before joining UTwente, she was a two-time recipient of the Migelien Gerritzen Fellowship to conduct independent research at the Conservation & Science Department of the Rijksmuseum following a postdoctoral research training at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica in Amsterdam. She obtained her PhD in Engineering Science at KU Leuven with a thesis on face recognition from DNA predictable traits.
Her research interests lie mainly in biometrics and computer vision, specifically in 3D face and 2D/3D finger-/palmprint recognition. In particular, she developed her own research line on Heritage Biometrics, which uses computational imaging for artist profiling from human impressions left on artworks.

Other keynotes at our Winter Meeting 2025:

• From partly to fully automated healthcare, and beyond by Bram van Ginneken
• Building stuff that works by Tom Koopen