One of the best-loved paintings by 15th-century Sicilian master Antonello da Messina has been put through a medical scan with surprising results, art experts said on Tuesday.
A group of art restorers working for the Sicilian regional government carried out CT scans on the Virgin Annunciate, an enigmatic portrait in which Mary is shown standing before a lectern, a vivid blue mantle covering her head and shoulders.
The high-resolution images revealed the presence of another woman's face beneath the visible Mary, the restorers said.
The eclipsed Madonna is painted more roughly and her face is far less serene than the final version.
Her cloak is also drawn back to expose more of her left cheek.
The scans also showed that Antonello did a lot of chopping and changing to Mary's hands.
In the definitive version, Mary is modestly holding her cloak closed with her left hand while her right hand is gesturing outwards over the lectern towards Gabriel, who occupies the viewer's space.
The right hand possesses an immediate, foreshortened quality, a masterly effect which the underdrawings and corrections showed Antonello worked hard to achieve.
Antonello is considered one of the most innovative and influential artists of his time although only some 45 of his works have survived.
An unprecedented show of more than 30 of these masterpieces including the Virgin Annunciate was held in Rome earlier this year, proving one of the capital's most popular exhibitions in years.
Although much of Antonello's life (c. 1430-1479) remains shrouded in mystery, Giorgio Vasari's 16th-century Lives Of The Artists credits him with introducing the "secret" of oil painting to Venice.
Later historians have greeted this claim with some degree of scepticism but it is generally accepted that his stint in Venice, from 1475-76, was extremely influential.
As well as popularising little-known oil techniques, he is also credited with bringing Flemish styles to the Lagoon City.
Antonello had himself been introduced to these techniques while studying in Naples, a thriving cultural centre at the time. He was apparently immediately captivated by Flemish work, in particular, that of Jan van Eyck.
His skill at blending Flemish techniques and realism with traditional Italian forms is already visible in his earliest known works, a Crucifixion (c. 1455) and St Jerome in His Study (c. 1460).
Although the bulk of Antonello's work was drawn from religious commissions, producing altarpieces for churches and convents, his dazzling miniature portraits brought him renown across Italy.
After leaving Naples, he opened his own workshop in his native Sicilian town of Messina, where he lived until 1474 before heading north. His reputation preceded him and he was in huge demand shortly after settling.
During this period he was supported by the Venetian state and his techniques quickly spread among local artists.
It was while in Venice that he produced some of his best-known works, including perhaps his most famous piece of all, St Sebastian (c. 1476).
