Hidden Van Gogh self-portrait found behind painting in Scotland
A self-portrait of Dutch post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh has been uncovered hidden behind one of his paintings.
National Galleries of Scotland said on Thursday art conservators made the discovery, believed to be a first for a UK institution, during an x-ray examination of Van Gogh's 1885 artwork "Head of a Peasant Woman" for an upcoming exhibition.
It said the x-ray showed "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".
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The image was hidden behind cardboard and layers of glue.
"When we saw the x-ray for the first time of course we were hugely excited," senior paintings conservator Lesley Stevenson said in a video shared by National Galleries of Scotland.
"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."
Van Gogh is known to have often re-used his canvases, working on their reverse as well.
National Galleries of Scotland said its experts were 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 feature at the July 30-Nov. 13 exhibition, called "A Taste for Impressionism", at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.
