Jennifer Mass is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Cultural Heritage Science at the Bard Graduate Center

Picasso working on Guernica in his Grands-Augustins studio, Paris (detail; 1937), Dora Maar. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid.

Picasso’s Guernica, as you’ve never seen it before

The ‘Rethinking Guernica’ website allows us to scrutinise Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece in greater detail than ever

11 Jun 2021
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp (detail; 1632), Rembrandt Van Rijn. Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Paintings suffer from breakouts, too – but what is ‘art acne’?

It’s not just the Old Masters that get spots – small bumps have started to erupt on modern paintings

22 Feb 2019
Sunflowers, (1889) Vincent Van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Van Gogh Foundation)

How the scientific study of paintings has become accessible to everyone

A revolution in chemical-imaging techniques is bringing us closer to the original visions of artists such as Van Gogh

25 Jun 2018