Adoration restoration

Alex Kachkine’s art restoration method creates a mask of features in need of repair, then overlays those on the original artwork on a transparent film. Move the slider from left to right to watch the transformation unfold on the Adoration after Martin Schongauer.

Oil painting depicting a woman in blue, kneeling and praying before the baby Jesus in a partially covered stable. Four men and animals look on. The painting shows signs of damage and some sections of paint are missing.A computer generated map of the damaged areas of the painting. Damage is highlighted in bright blue, red and white.The repaired painting with the damage corrected and missing sections of the image restored.

Credit: A. Kachkine Nature 642, 343–350; 2025