We all loved at least one thing from The Da Vinci Code, and for me, that was the idea that there are hidden messages and meanings within historic paintings…. well, I’m here to tell you that there are actually numerous secret paintings or even hidden messages behind great masterpieces, but they’re less about global conspiracies and long-lost Biblical secrets and more about preliminary sketches or recycling canvasses. These hidden paintings, discovered using X-ray or infrared technology, reveal more about an artist’s technique or reveal something that was purposefully hidden to make space for something else.
Even if the Illuminati’s secrets or a concealed self-portrait of the creator aren’t concealed inside your favourite da Vinci picture, there’s still a lot of intriguing stuff there. X-rayed photographs of antique paintings reveal sketches, alternate paintings, and secrets to how an artist works, providing interesting insight into the creative process of some of history’s most famous artists. While the public may never know why some of the original paintings were discarded, analysing how these wonderful works of art appear on the surface and under the surface provides an astonishing portrait of each artist.
1. Rembrandt’s ‘An Old Man In Military Costume’ Disguises A Younger Man
“An Old Man In Military Costume,” by Rembrandt, is a stunning, realistic painting that depicts precisely what the title suggests: an elderly man dressed in military garb. However, using X-rays in 1968, researchers uncovered something unusual about the picture: a painting of a young man hiding underneath the eponymous old one. The image of the young guy has got sharper as technology has advanced, displaying a man with a pink complexion and green clothing.
Experts debated whether the underlying picture was painted by a separate artist, but finally determined that both pictures were most likely created by Rembrandt. He had a propensity of utilising the same canvas over and over again.
2. Edvard Munch‘s ‘The Scream‘ Has A Hidden Message Written By The Artist
Edvard Munch’s 1893 expressionist painting The Scream (one of four versions of the artwork he made) features a barely discernible inscription in pencil in the upper left corner, as art historians have long known. It says “Kan kun være malet af en gal mand” in Norwegian, which translates to “Can only have been painted by a madman.” in English. It was first assumed that it had been added by a spectator who had destroyed the picture. However, curators working on the painting’s restoration at Norway’s National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design stated in 2020 that the statement was written by Munch himself.
They analysed the handwriting with infrared technology and compared it to Munch’s other works at the time. “The handwriting itself, as well as events that happened in 1895, when Munch showed the painting in Norway for the first time, all point in the same direction,” said Mai Britt Guleng, a museum curator. Guleng remarked that a vandal would have written the phrase considerably larger.
When the picture was originally presented in Norway, critics and others questioned Munch’s mental condition, which may have offended him and prompted him to add the pencilled comment.
All About The Scream by Edvard Munch
3. Van Gogh‘s ‘Patch of Grass’ Is Painted Over A Woman’s Face
“Patch of Grass” by Vincent van Gogh is a deceptively simple artwork. What looks to be a bright landscape painting is really a portrait of a peasant woman that the artist painted over for unclear reasons. Researchers used advanced technology to not only disclose the concealed image, but also to replicate it in colour. They believe he painted the picture between 1884 and 1885, while residing in the Dutch town of Nuenen.
Van Gogh’s works were constantly repainted. According to art experts, almost a third of his early works include concealed images.
4. Picasso’s ‘The Old Guitarist’ Covers Up Two Hidden Paintings
“The Old Guitarist” by Pablo Picasso has two images under the one that the observer sees. An old guy playing the guitar is depicted in the top artwork, his body at weird angles. Even before X-ray processing, a second face can be seen in the man’s neck area, gazing to the left. That face looks to belong to a young woman with a child at her side when the photograph is scanned. A third picture of an elderly woman was discovered in the painting, as well as an image of an animal head that might be part of one of the original two paintings or evidence of a third.
5. Caravaggio’s ‘Bacchus’ Covers A Stealthy Self-Portrait
X-ray imaging isn’t the sole method for locating missing artwork in historical paintings. Caravaggio‘s picture of Bacchus showed something unexpected thanks to infrared technology. The anomaly was initially noticed in 1922, but restoration attempts covered it up. Researchers employed multispectral reflectography in 2009 to look through the top layers of paint and uncover a miniature self-portrait of Caravaggio buried inside his work. It’s almost like an overblown signature that identifies the work as his own.
6. Bazille’s ‘Ruth and Boaz’ Hides A Famous Lost Painting
Unfortunately, time has taken its toll on some of history’s finest works of art. Many people assumed this was the situation with Frédéric Bazille’s “Young Woman at the Piano,” a picture about which the artist had written but never seen. Researchers discovered traces of “Ruth and Boaz,” below “Young Woman at the Piano” after X-raying it.
This isn’t Bazille’s only secret painting; using the same methodology, the researchers identified several other concealed works in his final paintings.
7. Picasso’s ‘The Blue Room’ Hides A Mysterious Portrait
A lady bathing in Pablo Picasso’s studio is seen in “The Blue Room,” a painting created during the artist’s famed “Blue Period,” Conservators suspected something more was going on in the iconic artwork because of the irregularity of brushstrokes as early as 1954, but they didn’t figure out what it was until the 1990s. When seen from the side and through an X-ray, “The Blue Room” is shown to be a second painting on top of a man’s image. Picasso most likely painted over the original to save money on canvases, as many of his paintings from this era sold badly.
8. Da Vinci’s ‘Lady With an Ermine’ Has A Hidden Meaning And A Hidden Picture
The ermine is the trademark of Leonardo da Vinci‘s renowned “Lady With an Ermine” – after all, it’s there in the title. The ermine, however, was a later addition, as shown by reflecting light technology; the painting originally depicted a woman with her arms casually folded.
The ermine is said to be a homage to da Vinci’s patron, Duke Ludovico Sforza. Cecilia Gallerani, Sforza’s lover, is shown in the painting, and the previous two editions of the artwork portray her without the ermine and with a lesser ermine. Historians believe the final, bigger ermine was improved to impress da Vinci’s patron.
9. Rembrandt Left A Hidden Portrait Beneath ‘The Archangel Leaving The Family Of Tobias’
Rembrandt was known for reusing canvases, and the materials for “The Archangel Leaving The Family Of Tobias.” were no exception. A photograph of a guy is obscured by what appears to be part of the backdrop environment in this case.
Rembrandt may have been trying to save money by painting over half-completed paintings. Years after paintings like this one were created, he became bankrupt in the mid-1600s.
10. Hodges’s ‘A View Of Pickersgill Harbor, Dusky Bay’ Covers An Antarctic Scene
“A View of Pickersgill Harbor, Dusky Bay,” by William Hodges is a vibrantly coloured portrayal of Pickersgill Harbor in New Zealand, when Hodges accompanied explorer James Cook. However, X-ray imaging revealed an underlying picture in 2004: a painting of two icebergs, which most likely represented Cook and Hodges’ prior trip in Antarctica.
One of the icebergs has a striking resemblance to a picture by another naturalist, George Forster, implying that the two painters were in the same spot at the same time and depicted the same feature. Though it’s unclear why Hodges painted over the initial picture, his depiction of Pickersgill Harbor has endured.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
