PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN PORTRAITS DISCOVERED ON THE SUNKEN TITANIC
Titian depicts a violent scene in Christ Shown to the People (also known as Ecce Homo). Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea, introduces Jesus to the invisible mob that will determine his destiny under the eerie glow of a torchlight. However, recent research in Cyprus has revealed that the Titian painting is more than just a religious story; it is also a puzzle, with a portrait concealed beneath layers of paint.
Ecce Homo's materiality and preservation status were initially to be examined by the Cyprus Institute's Andreas Pittas Art Characterization Laboratories (APAC). The team discovered something strange when they were looking at the painting under a microscope. Various coloured pigments are shown through surface fissures in the painting. The director of APAC, Nikolas Bakirtzis, tells Artnet, "We were able to … detect, through the cracks, the existence of different pigments under the Ecce Homo composition through microscopic observations of the painting's craquelure." "It was similar to solving a puzzle."
The underlying composition beneath Ecce Homo was reconstructed by the APAC team using X-ray images. A portrait of an unnamed man with a thin moustache is the result. He has a quill in his hand and an almost stern expression on his face. He is standing next to what looks to be a pile of books or papers, which would be more proof of his possible class or profession. According to Bakirtzis, "It is obviously [a] portrait of a banker, a lawyer, some professional man in his workspace."
But why wasn't this portrait given its canvas instead of being placed beneath Ecce Homo? Bakirtzis attributes the choice to Titian's artistic adaptability and frugal nature. According to Bakirtzis, Titian appears to have turned the canvas upside down and then painted the new composition straight onto the portrait, indicating "an experienced, confident artistic hand." According to Bakirtzis, "turning the canvas upside-down made it easier to execute the overpainting by visually weakening or neutralizing the portrait composition."
The exhibition Unseen Gaze, which features Titian's Ecce Homo and its hidden portrait, is presently on display at the Apothikes Papadaki centre in Limassol. Visit the Limassol website to find out more about this amazing discovery and the exhibition.
