Overview
- The Université Polytechnique Hauts‑de‑France team converted high‑resolution images into 3D‑like topographical maps and used box‑counting fractal dimensions to quantify a painting’s microscopic texture and brushwork.
- In tests reported in the study, the method identified the well‑known fake The Plowmen as a strong outlier and found Sunset at Montmajour consistent with the Van Gogh baseline.
- Authors also showed the fractal measures separated Van Gogh’s texture from that of a 17th‑century painter, indicating the approach can distinguish different artists’ surface techniques.
- Coverage and the paper note key limits: the baseline was built from a small set of Van Gogh scans (reports say eight or nine works), and factors such as aging, varnish and imaging conditions may change fractal values.
- Researchers and commentators say the technique is meant as a complementary, non‑destructive tool to pair with connoisseurship and chemical tests and that independent replication on larger, diverse datasets is needed before routine use.