Mysterious women, obscure faces and even self -portraits are present in the works of some of the most famous painters of all time. What do they mean?
Some may be regrets of the painter, who by artistic determination wanted to keep the same screen. Others may contain mysterious subliminal messages.
Later this month Zap reported the discovery of one. But this is not an isolated case: it has happened throughout the history of art, and there are paintings that have been intriguing experts for years. Here are some examples.
Rembrandt: Old age or youth inside out?
Underneath one of the most unnoticed paintings of Renaissance Rembrandt, is a surprise, discovered by expert on Getty museum.
The painting ”an old man in military costume” was subjected to X-ray fluorescence images (MA-XRF) and infrared reflection, and the results were surprising: There is a young face, turned the opposite on the board, under man’s painting.
J. Paul Getty Museum
“There is a strong probability that, like An old man in military costumethis underlying image of the youth is another study of character, but one in which Rembrandt used his own characteristics“The museum curator Anne Woollet said.
And, according to, the figure is quite discount of Rembrandt’s classic paintings: wears strong red and green, colors little used by the painter, which opted for darker tones.
Caravaggio’s miniature self -portrait
The iconic Italian painter Caravaggio is connected by his obscure genius: one of his masterpieces, the “beheading of John the Baptist”, is the only work he signed, and did it with… his own blood.
But in 2009, a team of investigators, using multispectral reflection,, discovered hidden Not under, but about A table of 1597 a tiny self -portrait of the painter.
Caravaggio / Wikimedia Commons
According to, you can see the young Caravaggio with a brush in hand, hidden inside a jar of wine in his “Bacchus” oil painting. Is it a message about your elastic identity?
Modigliani’s ex-girlfriend
A dark image of a dark -haired woman sitting in front of a door was revealed in 2018 under the picture of a 1917 girl, painted by.
Recently, in 2021, as reported, new investigations using AI created an algorithm that simulated the original aspect of the mysterious woman.
Tate Museum
It is now believed that the picture can represent a Old girlfriend of the artist Italian, Beatrice Hastings, with whom he will have broken, however, and therefore painted another woman.
The mysterious woman of Magritte
The portrait of a woman was hidden under The fifth season (Fifth Station), 1943, only revealed by infrared rays decades later.
The identity of the model is uncertain, tells the, but resembles that of the Woman and Muse of MagritteGeorgette. However, it has an unusual expression on the face.
“We consider that this portrait has in fact painted, we have no doubt about it,” said the investigators. His reason for painting over the portrait is not clear, but the artist came to reuse screens due to financial difficulties.
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussel
Although there was an intention on the part of the painter of drawing that hidden woman, it will be difficult to see why. As he himself said, “When we see one of my paintings, we ask ourselves this simple question: ‘What does this mean?’ It means nothingbecause the mystery also means nothing, it is unknowable. ”
Ecce Homo. Which one?
Underneath a famous Titian painting, “Ecce Homo”, investigators discovered a portrait of an “unknown professional man.”
“It was like discovering a puzzle,” said Nikolas Bakirtzis, director of the APAC lab ,. “When we started to realize that there was a complete work underneath, we were extremely enthusiastic. We started analyzing the layers using a series of image methods and at the same time physical, chemical and analytical methods that allowed us to see under the surface. ”
Andreas Pittas Art Characterization Laboratories/STARC, The Cyprus Institute
“The portrait that is under this painting is the portrait of a man standing,” says the Epsycalist. “We were unable to identify who this man is. It is not one of the known patrons, for example, no friend or client of Ticiano. ” It is the mystery. How long?
CAROLINA BASTOS PEREIRA, ZAP //
