For generations, art historians have argued about the black background in one of Raphael’s most intriguing paintings. Was “Madonna del Granduca” originally painted on an all black background? Or were her dark surroundings added later?
New x-ray analysis has done away with speculation. Art historians have found small irregularities in the all-black setting.
X-ray radiation can expose the chemical components of the paint pigment. Comparison of the pigments has revealed that the black paint was added later than the pigment that comprises the image of the Madonna with her child.
Historians are unsure as to when the Raphael’s painting was given the makeover, but they are fairly certain that the black paint is obscuring a landscape that was originally painted in the background.
Science seems especially suited to revealing long lost secrets in some of Italy’s most famous paintings. The “Madonna” discovery comes just weeks after mysterious symbols were found on Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa using microscopic analysis.
