Summary

In 2016, Australian scientists revealed the hidden image beneath Edgar Degas’ ‘Portrait of a Woman’.

When the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and the National Gallery of Victoria collaborated to reconstruct a long-suspected image hidden beneath Degas’ 1870s brushstrokes, they harnessed an advanced fluorescence mapping technique and an X-ray beam one million times brighter than the sun.

The team behind this remarkable revelation share their experience of discovery and discuss new technologies that are transforming forensic curation in the art world and beyond.