Craquelure
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In art, craquelure is the fine pattern of cracks formed on old paintings. It is sometimes used to detect forged art, as craquelure is a hard-to-forge signature of authenticity.
The precise pattern of craquelure depends upon where the picture was painted. There appear to be distinct French, Italian and Dutch "styles" of craquelure.
Craquelure can furnish a record of the environmental conditions of the painting has experienced during of its lifetime, and also can reveal details about the painting's history of handling, transportation, and restoration.
Robertson Davies's novel What's Bred in the Bone includes a passage in which an art forger deliberately induces a craquelure in a new painting by placing it in a hot furnace for fifteen minutes.
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