THE MYSTERY PORTRAIT UNDER TITIAN’S ECCE HOMO

Titian’s Ecce Homo (ca. 1570, oil on canvas), depicting Christ accompanied by Pontius Pilate and the figures of two of his captors, was documented and analyzed with the help of a broad range of advanced digital imaging and analytical spectroscopic tools aiming to map its material aspects and to uncover details of the works history and artistic techniques. Guided by the observations of Prof. Paul Joannides and a preliminary X-ray on the existence of an underpainting depicting a man, APAC Labs’ researchers were able to document the stratigraphy of the canvas and to reveal the material presence of a complete portrait, painted at 180’ degrees angle, under the Ecce Homo composition.  

In preparation for conservation, microscopic observations of the craqueleure (pattern of fine cracks that form on the surface of old paintings) of the Ecce Homo showed the existence of different pigments under the composition. Their systematic study and analysis through the cracks, was like uncovering a puzzle. The close documentation and analysis of the materiality of painting layers led to a better understanding of the artistic strategies employed by the Renaissance master and his studio when reusing canvases. A unique discovery was to map the direct relation of the two paintings and to identify how features of the underpainting influenced details of the compositional development of the Ecce Homo work. Prof. Ioli Kalavrezou provided expert guidance and observations in efforts to locate and understand the relation of the two works. 

The more recent use of a new multi-modal scanner, combining Macro X-Ray Fluorescence (MA-XRF), Reflectance Spectroscopy (RIS), and Luminescence Imaging Spectroscopy (LIS), permitted the complete material mapping of the two works and the unique scientific visualization of the portrait presenting an unknown professional man standing in front of a desk in an interior space. The prototype multi-modal scanner was developed by APAC Labs / STARC in close collaboration with the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF), the Fondation des Sciences du Patrimoine (FSP), and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France.  

In sum, the interdisciplinary scientific study of the Ecce Homo further confirmed its attribution to the great Renaissance master and has enriched the history of the iconography and composition of the Ecce Homo theme by Titian. The material re-discovery of the hidden portrait has shed light on the reuse of canvases in the studio of the master. For unknown reasons the portrait was painted over with the Ecce Homo composition. The fact that the new composition was effectively executed directly on the portrait painting points to an experienced, confident artistic hand, plausibly tracing the work of the leading studio artist, Titian himself!