A generous grant from The Samuel H. Kress Foundation for the project "The digitization of cross-sections from Italian and Dutch paintings" at The National Gallery of Denmark (SMK) has enabled digitization and analyses of cross-sections from a total of 158 Italian 14th to 17th C. and 17th C. Dutch paintings from the SMK collection to be made available in this open access art and technology research database on ground layers. With samples from the collections of Nationalmuseum Stockholm and Museum of National History, Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød the database includes an additional 11 paintings.

Making this material digitally available will offer researchers a multitude of opportunities to carry out comparative studies between artists and schools of painters from different geographical areas. The mobility and interaction between artists have influenced their working habits, something that upon thorough mapping may assist us in understanding the development of trends and renewed approaches in painting practices across Europe.

The development of this open access IIIF search engine, to display the many cross-section and realted painting images, was carried out by the National Gallery London, with the support of the EU Horizon 2020 projects IPERION-HS and SSHOC.