Radiocarbon dating at the Tandem Laboratory on Swedish television
SVT’s cameraman films as Tandem Laboratory’s Jonas Balkefors takes a sample from the painting for radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating will help determine whether the work is contemporary with Leonardo da Vinci. Photo: Anja Castensson.
Could a painting from a Swedish attic be by Leonardo da Vinci? The Tandem Laboratory’s radiocarbon dating provides an important piece of the puzzle in a TV program on Swedish television.
”Da Vinci-mysteriet i Söderköping” i SVT Vetenskapens värld 18 maj 2026.
Erik contacts science reporter Bodil Appelquist: his father Christer, an art conservator with a lifetime of experience working with artworks, is convinced that he owns something extraordinary — a painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
Together, Erik and Bodil embark on a journey through the art world. Through pigment analysis and entirely new methods such as artificial intelligence and groundbreaking DNA technology, the painting is examined down to the smallest detail.
To determine the age of the painting, the Tandem Laboratory’s carbon-14 dating is an important piece of evidence.
How to watch:
“Da Vinci-mysteriet i Söderköping” on SVT play (in Swedish)
or:
On SVT 2 May 18 2026, 20:00
Radiocarbon dating
14C is a rare form of the element carbon that is formed in the atmosphere. A living organism contains the same proportion of 14C as is found in the atmosphere. After death, the amount of 14C in the tissue begins to decrease at a constant and well-known rate.
This means that it is possible to determine the age of a biological material — such as the wood in a painting — by measuring the proportion of 14C in the material.