An intriguing discovery was made by art historians who studied a work by Pablo Picasso: a portrait of a hitherto unknown woman was hidden under the surface of one of her paintings.
The original work, which portrayed a mysterious woman, was covered by Picasso a few months after her creation in 1901, when he decided to paint his friend Sculptor Mateu Fernández de Soto sitting at the table, using shades of blue and green.
After almost 125 years, the outline of the original portrait was revealed by the Courtauld Institute of Art in London through infrared image techniques and X -ray, performed before an exhibition.
Barnaby Wright, deputy chief of Courtauld Gallery, described the revelation of the portrait as a fascinating process, in which the image “literally emerged before our eyes, piece by piece”, thanks to the way the infrared camera scanns the image.
The experts were aware that something could be hidden under the painting, as the visible brushstrokes did not correspond to the final portrait. However, the woman’s identity remains a mystery. She features a characteristic Chignon hairstyle of Parisian fashion of 1901, which leads historians to believe that she can be one of several models Picasso painted at the time.
Wright stressed that while the woman’s portrait was covered, traces of her image are still visible, such as the outline of her eye, ear and hair, creating a “ghostly presence” that continues to press the surface of the work.
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Picasso, who was only 19 when he arrived in Paris, was exploring new ways to portray his subjects. When painting about the woman’s portrait, he not only changed the theme of the work, but also his technique, marking the beginning of his famous blue period. During this period, Picasso adopted darker colors for his representations, a change in part by the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas.
The painting “Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto” will be shown at the Courtauld Gallery in London, from February 14 to May 26.
