Image-based goniometric appearance characterisation of bronze patinas

Abstract

Patinas are a form of metal polychromy used to decorate metallic artworks. Due to the nature of the metallic surface, their colour and gloss is perceived differently when the illumination and viewing directions vary. Sparkle effect on surfaces is a physical phenomenom caused by micro-facets on the surface coating which are also perceived with changing viewing and illumination geometry. In this paper, a method designed for the measurement of sparkle is applied for the goniometric characterisation of bronze patinas. Using a set of six different patinas, in three colours and two surface finishes, it is found that these surfaces exhibit different appearance when illuminated and viewed at different angles. Moreover, the roughness of the patinas is measured and as expected, as the roughness increases the specular reflection peak decreases. The experiment is repeated at two different institutions with different sets of equipment to test its repeatability and robustness. The sparkle is presented as a function of the angle of tilting, and it is characterised by its maximum value and full-width halfmaximum. It is found that the maximum and the roughness have a negative exponential relationship whereas the full-width halfmaximum and the roughness have a linear relationship.