Fingerprints

Fingerprint ridges

Description

An impression made by the sweat pores in the ridges on the ends of the human fingers and thumbs. Fingerprints contain naturally produced oils and salts from the human skin that leave residue on contact surfaces. Fingerprint residues can etch metals and stain organic materials such as Leather and Paper (Shelley 1987). Fingerprints for each human produce a unique pattern of ridges. Images of fingerprint patterns found on works of art have been compared as a potential authentication source (Sigel 2002).

Synonyms and Related Terms

skin oils and salts; Fingerabdruck (Deut.); empreinte digitale (Fr.); vingerafdrukken (Ned.); impressão digital (Port.); fingeravtryck (Sven.)

FTIR

Resources and Citations

• Tony Sigel, "Bernini Terracottas: Technical Analysis, Modeling Technique, Authorship", presented at the conference Earth and Fire: Contributions to the Study of Italian Terracotta Sculpture, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, April 2002.

• Marjorie Shelley, The Care and Handling of Art Objects, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1987

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "fingerprint." Accessed 8 Sept. 2005 .

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerprint (Accessed Sept. 7, 2005)