AI finally solves the mystery behind Renaissance painting

It turns out that AI is good for more than creative terrible film mashups and nightmarish deepfakes. An algorithm developed in Bradford may have solved the mystery behind a masterpiece of art at Madrid's Prado gallery. 

For centuries, there has been debate around the Madonna della Rosa (Madonna of the Rose). Was it really painted by Raphael? AI, it seems, has found the answer (see our pick of the best AI art generators for generative AI tools).

The Madonna della Rosa depicts Mary, Joseph, Jesus and a young John the Baptist. As long ago as the 19th century, doubt was cast on whether Raphael was the artist behind it. Some art historians thought that the figure of Joseph in particular didn't look like the work of the great Renaissance painter, while others thought the section at the bottom with the rose was also painted by someone else. 

The Prado itself has continued to attribute the painting to Raphael. Now an AI algorithm appears to justify its stance, at least for the most part. Developed by professor Hassan Ugail at the University of Bradford, the AI's analysis suggests that most of the painting was the work of Raphael, "most likely" including the questioned lower portion. However, the face of Joseph appears to have been painted by a different artist.

How's does it work? Ugail says the algorithm was trained on 49 uncontested works by Raphael and can recognise authentic pieces to an accuracy of 98 per cent. He said the model learns about painting in an "almost microscopic way", studying the colour palette, hues, brushstrokes and tonal values used by Raphael.

Initial testing was inconclusive, finding a 60% chance that the painting was Raphael's work. A more detailed section-by-section analysis found that it was Joseph's face that was causing the doubt. The results have been published in the Heritage Science journal.

Bradford emeritus professor of molecular spectroscopy Howell Edwards, who co-authored the paper, said: “The AI programme analysis of our work has demonstrated conclusively that whereas the three figures of the Madonna, Christ Child and St John the Baptist are unequivocally painted by Raphael, that of St Joseph is not and has been painted by someone else – possibly by Romano, as believed by zur Capellen and others."

Ugail has released the code for his algorithm, so it is available to the public to replicate. Future research will apply the same technique to the work of other artists.

To learn about the use of generative AI in digital art, see our pick of the best AI art tutorials.