Paintings discovered beneath portraits at London museum

LONDON – The National Portrait Gallery, London has discovered hidden paintings beneath Tudor portraits in its collection. The discoveries are displayed as part of “Hidden: Unseen Paintings Beneath Tudor Portraits.”

Recent analysis undertaken as part of the “Making Art in Tudor Britain” project has used scientific techniques to analyze the portraits in the display to increase the understanding of the working practices of Tudor artists. The project has used infrared reflectography and x-radiography to explore the processes employed in making these portraits, enabling examination of the layers beneath the paint surface. It was during this technical research that hidden images behind the portraits were discovered.

The works in “Hidden: Unseen Paintings Beneath Tudor Portraits” include the National Portrait Gallery’s portrait of the Lord Treasurer and poet Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset by an unknown artist, 1601, which during x-ray revealed a fully worked up version of The Flagellation of Christ painted beneath the surface. The composition is derived from a fresco in the Borgherini Chapel in Rome by Sebastiano del Piombo after designs by Michelangelo. After the chapel’s unveiling in 1524 the artist Adamo Scultori produced an engraving and the composition became more widely known. An engraving depicting The Flagellation of Christ by Adamo Scultori after Michelangelo and Sebastiano del Piombo (The British Museum, London) along with the x-ray of Thomas Sackville’s portrait are displayed together.

Other works in the display include the National Portrait Gallery’s portrait of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I’s protestant spymaster and secretary of state, which appears to have been painted over an earlier devotional depiction of the Virgin and Child. Infrared reflectography revealed there were at least three figures beneath the portrait and in x-ray it became evident that these were likely to be of the Virgin Mary with the infant Christ, with either the figure of Joseph or an angel also visible. The circumstances of the re-use of the panel are unknown and given Walsingham’s ardent religious beliefs had he known of this re-use he would not have approved. Dendrochronology (tree-ring) analysis has suggested that the panel was first used between 1547 and 1579, while the portrait of Sir Francis Walsingham dates to the mid 1580s. This portrait hangs alongside the technical images that revealed the secret painting and also The Virgin and Child in a Garden, style of Martin Schongauer (The National Gallery, London), which gives an impression of what the original composition may have looked like.

Dr. Tarnya Cooper, chief curator of the National Portrait Gallery, London, said, “It has been really exciting to discover these images beneath portraits; they were unexpected and have raised some interesting questions about materials and the intentions of artists. The re-use of wooden panels is an example of Tudor recycling, which was an essential part of life in the past. And yet, the people in the portraits painted over the top were perhaps unlikely to have known the panels were secondhand. In the case of Sir Francis Walsingham, the protestant spymaster with the Roman Catholic image of the Virgin and child beneath, you do wonder if the artist might be enjoying a private joke at the expense of the sitter.”

The display runs from Jan. 3 until June 2 at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Admission to the exhibit is free. Visit the website www.npg.org.uk for details.