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After more than 300 years, Rembrandt's 1653 painting Aristotle with a Bust of Homer needed to be cleaned. Aristotle's black apron showed signs of damage; it was unclear whether any of the original paint had survived underneath the apron. Conservators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) needed to know as much as possible about the damaged area before undertaking the painting's restoration and cleaning. Art historians wanted to know whether Rembrandt altered the composition as he worked on the painting. To help provide such information, the painting was taken to a nuclear reactor at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. How can a nuclear reactor help conservators and art historians learn about a painting?
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