Painters often change their artwork as they work. It so happens that the initial idea is very different from the final result.
But research helps us to reveal the "original" hidden under a layer of paint. Sometimes amazing things are discovered …
Here are 9 double bottom paintings:
1. "Black Square", Kazimir Malevich
This picture has always caused a lot of controversy. And a new wave of discussions broke out in 2015, exactly 100 years after its creation, when first one and then another latent image was discovered under a layer of black paint.
It is interesting that experts attribute these two images to different genres: the first - to cubo-futurism, and the second - to protosuprematism. It is believed that the three images on top of each other reflect the artist's transition from one direction to another.
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In addition, a signature was found on the painting: "Battle of the Negroes in a Dark Cave." Apparently, this is a reference to the now-lost picture of Alphonse Allais, which is a black rectangle.
2. "The Lady with the Unicorn" by Rafael Santi
Initially, a certain lady was drawn on the canvas, which they later decided to make a saint: they added a palm branch, a martyr's wheel and a cape on the shoulders. The unicorn, which apparently did not fit into the general idea, was completely removed. For the first time the painting became known under the name "St. Catherine of Alexandria".
When the restorers continued to study the canvas, it turned out that, firstly, instead of a unicorn, the lady was initially holding a small dog in her hands. And secondly, Raphael himself painted only a woman, a landscape and the sky, and the details (columns, parapet, dog) were completed by another artist.
By the way, it was to study this picture that X-rays were first used.
3. "Angelus", Jean-Francois Millet
The mystery of this painting was revealed thanks to another famous artist - Salvador Dali. The canvas haunted him, he redrawn the figures of people in one form or another in his works more than 60 times.
In the end, Dali asked experts from the Louvre to investigate the painting. They discovered a hidden layer on which was painted a deceased unbaptized child who was buried in a field.
Later, in Millet's memoirs, they found a mention of the fact that the painting was originally called "The Funeral of a Child in the Field", but was renamed to make it easier to sell. Dali stated on this occasion:
4. "The Old Man in a Military Suit" by Rembrandt van Rijn
In 1968, scientists discovered a second portrait under the painting An Old Man in a Military Suit. But it was possible to examine and study it in detail only in 2015 thanks to new technologies.
Experts believe that the painting depicts the artist's father. But they did not succeed in identifying the person whose portrait was found under a layer visible to all.
5. "Patch of Grass" by Vincent van Gogh
In 2008, Belgian and Dutch scientists discovered a hidden layer in one of Van Gogh's paintings. The patch of grass is in blue-green tones, while the latent image is in red-brown. The most unexpected thing was that it turned out to be a portrait of a woman!
The woman looks like a peasant woman, but her identity has not been established. Experts believe that due to poverty, Van Gogh simply painted one picture on top of another, saving canvases.
6. "Lady with an Ermine" by Leonardo da Vinci
French engineer Pascal Cotte found out that the famous painting by da Vinci "Lady with an Ermine" should not have had an ermine at all. The artist added it later, and experts do not have a consensus on what exactly. There are several versions.
According to one of them, the painting depicts the mistress of the Duke of Milan, whose emblem was precisely the ermine. According to another, the girl was pregnant, and the animal covering the belly symbolizes purity and chastity. Finally, according to the third version, the girl depicted was very domineering and kept the duke in check.
There is also an opinion that the painting depicts not an ermine, but a white ferret.
7. "Enchanted Pose" by Rene Magritte
To recreate this picture, scientists had to overcome many difficulties. The canvas was exhibited in the first third of the twentieth century, and then disappeared. It was believed that it was simply destroyed by the artist.
But in 2013, employees of the Museum of Modern Art in New York suspected that another image was hidden under Magritte's painting "Portrait". X-rays were taken, and the torso of the girl from the disappeared painting was revealed under the top layer. Then the search began for the remaining four parts.
They ended only in 2017. The missing pieces have been found under other paintings and in other museums. However, it was not possible to collect the whole picture, because for this it would have to destroy other works. The picture was restored only in digital form.
8. "View of the Seashore of Scheveningen", Hendrik van Antonissen
As in many other cases, here the hidden layer was discovered quite by accident. During the restoration, experts removed the old lacquer coating, and a silhouette of a man appeared on the horizon, looking at something that looked like a sailboat.
When the study continued, it turned out that people gathered on the shore for a reason. It turns out that a large whale is lying nearby, on which a man stands. And the "sailboat" turned out to be a whale fin. Experts believe that the animal was painted over in the 18th or 19th century, so as not to disturb the public with the sight of a dead whale.
9. "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci
Two more were found under the most famous portrait in the world!
Scientists are divided into two camps: some believe that further research can help us better understand the secrets of this masterpiece, while others believe that only the creative process was found under the first layer and there are no other portraits on the canvas.
Representatives of the Louvre remain neutral in this dispute.