Wondering if a work of art is real? Some researchers at Darmouth College say that the best way to find out may be to ask a computer. They believe it may be possible to determine a work's authenticity using fractals, a branch of mathematics that studies the development of small, repeating patterns.

The method works by breaking a picture down into 144 individual squares and then covering the spots with random shapes. Next, the program goes about altering those random shapes until they recreate given work. By establishing the minimal number of steps used to rework these aleatorically created shapes into the artist’s work, scientists say they are able to establish the signature working method of a given artist, which forgers would be hard-pressed to reproduce.

How do they know the method works? Scientists say they have run the program using a genuine work by 16th-century master Pieter Bruegel the Elder, then turned their attention to other paintings, some produced by him, others by imitators. The program identified only the ones attributed to Bruegel as the real works.

This method of minute fractal analysis first gained attention when scientists argued that Jackson Pollocks drip method could be identified and quantified in a fractal function, an assertion that met a great deal of dispute among art historians.

The Dartmouth researchers believe that their work will have applications beyond the realm of simply authenticating paintings. “Our hope is that it becomes more of what people call 'technical art history,'” Professor Daniel Rockmore said, noting that fractal study could help art historians understand how painting styles developed over time, replacing careful inspection — long the art historian's sole tool — with statistics.

Read more at BBC News.