Cerebral perception and appreciation of real paintings and sculptures by neuroelectric imaging

It was reported as the observation of fine arts artifacts displayed on a screen or even in real art galleries produced stable neuroelectrical patterns in humans. In this paper, we report the results from the measuraments of the cerebral activity of a group of subjects during the observation of several real paintings of Titian. Furthermore, we reported here also the cerebral and emotional reactions of a group of persons during the observation of the real Michelangelo’s Moses sculpture. We collected the cerebral activity by a portable EEG devices, while the collection of EKG and GSR will return information about the emotional states of the subject. In addition, an eyetracker device was used for the collection of eyegazes during the fine art experience. Neurometric indexes related to the Approach Withdrawal (AWI) and Emotional Index (EI) were used. Results showed that in the case of the examined paintings the AW index was significant higher during the observation of portraits than during the observation of the religious ones. Results from the sculpture observations showed that cerebral activity of the subjects varied significantly across the different point of views for the sculpture’s observations. Taken together, such results suggested that the perception of the sculpture depends critically by the point of view since it can produce separate emotional and cerebral responses. In addition, results also highlights the appreciation of observed portraits. Neurometric indexes returns then important information on the quality of the appreciation of fine arts artifacts.