VAN GOGH SELF PORTRAIT UNCOVERED BEHIND ONE OF HIS PAINTINGS

Conservators at the National Galleries of Scotland discovered a self-portrait behind one of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings.

The image, hidden behind cardboard and layers of glue was discovered during an x-ray examination of his 1885 artwork Head Of A Peasant Woman.

In a statement released by the National Galleries of Scotland, it said “a bearded sitter in a brimmed hat with a neckerchief loosely tied at the throat. He fixes the viewer with an intense stare, the right side of his face in shadow and his left ear clearly visible.”

Lesley Stevenson, the senior paintings conservator at National Galleries of Scotland, said “such a major discovery happens once, twice in a conservator’s lifetime… To have an image, as elusive as it presently is, is something very, very special.”

The self-portrait was discovered by a team when they were getting portraits ready for an exhibition. The team of experts are now looking at how to remove the glue and cardboard covering the self-portrait without damaging Head Of A Peasant Woman.

The x-ray image will be part of the A Taste For Impressionism exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh from 30 July to 13 November.

Image credit: The Scotsman