„… ein Maler, der sich Wissenschaft und Technik zunutze macht …“

Kurt Wehlte und die Entwicklung der kunstwissenschaftlichen Radiografie

Abstract

“… a painter, who makes use of science and technology …” Kurt Wehlte and the development of radiography in art technological research
The article provides an insight into the dissertation on the artist, painting technician and restorer Kurt Wehlte and his activities in the field of art-scientific radiography. The examination method gained sustained attention and application in German museums with the extensive series of X-radiographs commissioned by the Fogg Art Museum in the early 1930s. At that time, however, fundamental experience was lacking for the art-technological interpretation of X-radiographs. Kurt Wehlte's notes provide an interesting insight into the development of radiography of paintings. For this purpose, Wehlte's interpretation of an X-radiograph of an early Italian painting from the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main from 1931 is presented as an example and compared with the current state of knowledge. With his experiments and research in radiographic processes and painting technology, he provided essential impulses for the interpretation of X radiographs in art technology and, as a researching painter, also influenced the field of art technology, conservation and restoration.