Terahertz spectroscopy: the new tool to help detect art fraud

When we look at a painting, how do we know it's a genuine piece of art? Everything we see with the unaided eye in a painting - from the Australian outback images of Albert Namatjira or Russell Drysdale, to the vibrant works of Pro Hart - is thanks to the mix of colours that form part of the visible spectrum. But if we look at the painting in a different way, at a part of the spectrum that is invisible to our eyes, then we can see something very different. As our recently published research shows, it could even help us detect art fraud.