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Researchers at the Cyprus Institute (CyI) uncovered a male portrait hidden for centuries beneath Titian’s 1570 painting Ecce Homo (“Behold the Man”).
This artwork depicts Jesus Christ before his crucifixion alongside Pontius Pilate. While conservators prepared the painting for restoration, they put it under a microscope and noticed pigments peeking through the craquelure — the network of tiny cracks that forms on the surface of old paintings.
Using advanced visualization techniques and non-invasive analysis, researchers from the Andreas Pittas Art Characterization Laboratory (APAC) at CyI pieced together the portrait that lay beneath layers of paint. “It was like solving a puzzle,” said Professor Nicholas Bakirtzis, who led the team.
What Did the Master’s Painting Conceal?
In contrast to the tragedy of Christ, the hidden work shows a much more ordinary scene. In the portrait the experts reconstructed, a man with a thin mustache holds a quill and stands next to a stack of books or papers, according to The Independent.
“This is clearly a portrait of a banker, a lawyer, some kind of professional at work,” said Bakirtzis. He says the identity of the person in the hidden portrait remains unknown, adding another layer of intrigue to the discovery. Experts hope further research will shed light on this detective-like story.
The recreated painting hidden beneath Titian’s “Ecce Homo”
Conservators know that Titian often reused canvases from partially completed works. However, in this case the artist painted Ecce Homo over a fully finished portrait.
Both Titian’s painting and the reproduction of the hidden portrait are currently on display in Limassol.
