The importance of diagnostic investigation to reveal hidden paintings

Abstract

In this paper a full diagnostic campaign on a private panel painting will be reported. The painting represented a landscape created with the so-called 'Venetian whim' (different elements taken from various landscapes). The presence of very small traces of the original painting, appearing on the edges of the contemporary one, and the ancient wooden support were enough for suggesting the possible presence of another hidden artwork. In order to try to understand the stratigraphy of the paintings and to decide to remove the contemporary work, the following diagnostic analyses were performed: video microscope acquisition, infrared reflectography, ultraviolet fluorescence photography, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, radiography and wood characterization.

The combined use of these techniques revealed the presence of a beautiful and well-preserved painting, hidden by the landscape representation. The ancient painting shows the Virgin with the Child and Saint Catherine from Alexandria (16th century). Due to this extraordinary result, it was chosen to remove the contemporary painting and restore the old representation.