Restaurabits

Secrets and other curiosities

Detalle de la obra después de la restauración

A mysterious horse

Comparative of the visible image and the X-ray image
Detail of the figure of the uncovered horse in the X-ray image
Comparativa de la imagen visible y la imagen radiográfica

Did you know that there was more than one horse in Carpaccio’s painting? The study of Carpaccio’s Knight revealed unknown aspects of the work which show that his initial idea differed from what was finally executed.

It was a surprise to find the sketched outline of another horse, smaller than the one now visible and walking in the opposite direction to the young knight, in the X-ray image. The painter subsequently redesigned the composition by covering it over and depicting the horseman that can now be seen in the middle distance. To do so, he enlarged the horse and positioned it facing in the direction of the young warrior.

Today’s study techniques enable us to examine works of art in depth and discover information that has lain hidden for hundreds of years.

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Saint Catherine’s enigmatic dress

Can you imagine Saint Catherine dressed in red? That is the colour we discovered during our research when the work’s materials were analysed. It would have been part of an initial version of the clothing of Caravaggio’s figure.

 
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How the campanile in "The Piazza San Marco in Venice" was painted

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The Golden Section and Giovanna Tornabuoni

In the study of the Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni, we applied the pattern of the spiral to Ghirlandaio’s work and noted how the figure is laid out in space. The artist structures the elements along an axis and arranges them in an orderly manner. All the geometric multiplications are reflected in a single whole, which is the work.
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