If the picture is face down on the floor your knowledge and experience would tell you the canvas is usually the earliest and in theory you could take it apart removing canvas first. ( or cut a section through the painting to show the order the paint was put on the canvas). The fact the painting is face down on the floor might confuse you a bit to start with but it should become clear that the paint is related chronologically primarily to the canvas not the floor (the interfaces between the different layers of paint and the canvas will tell you this). The physical spatial relationships give you clues as to the temporal but they are not what you are trying to understand.
The very distinct interface between the final varnished surface of the painting and the floor surface will tell you about the releationship between the two.
The process of taking the picture apart will of course damage it ( archaeology is destructive) unless done in a controlled manner using carefully selected areas.
I am begining to like the deconstruction of a painting analogy for archaeology
The very distinct interface between the final varnished surface of the painting and the floor surface will tell you about the releationship between the two.
The process of taking the picture apart will of course damage it ( archaeology is destructive) unless done in a controlled manner using carefully selected areas.
I am begining to like the deconstruction of a painting analogy for archaeology