Reflectography

Origin

reflect + -o- + -graphy

Full definition of reflectography

Noun

1. An infrared technique used by art historians to detect layers beneath the top surface of a painting and thus determine whether it is an original.
• 2008, June 8, J. D. Biersdorfer, What Lies Beneath Can Tell Another Tale, IF a picture is worth the proverbial thousand words, taking a peek under the paint using infrared reflectography surely adds a few thousand more — especially when it comes to a work as detailed as the enormous 15th-century altarpiece from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Ascension in Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain.