Unexpectedly discovered Van Gogh's portrait hidden behind the painting for more than 100 years

Lesley Stevenson, conservator of paintings at the National Museum of Scotland, said he was X-raying the paintings when he discovered Van Gogh's portrait hidden behind the painting "Head of a Peasant Woman", also the work of the famous artist. Dutch painter, Guardian reported on July 14.

"This is truly extraordinary," she said, adding that the portrait had been hidden for more than 100 years behind the glue and cardboard of the original painting.

Lesley Stevenson discovered the portrait of painter Van Gogh after taking an X-ray of the painting "Head of a Peasant Woman" in his hand.

The X-rays were part of the grading process, as well as in preparation for the summer exhibition on French Impressionism at the Royal Academy of Scotland. Although Dutch, painter Van Gogh spent most of his painting career in France.

Portrait of Van Gogh hidden behind his own painting.

Subsequent studies showed that the painting was one of a series of portraits on display at the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands, and that there were five similar paintings. These portraits were painted by Van Gogh on the back of his earlier oil paintings while living in Nuenen, a town in the South of the Netherlands, between 1883 and 1885.

Frances Fowle, a French art curator, says the find provides an important insight into Van Gogh's artistic career, when the artist first saw a French Impressionist painting in first came to Paris in 1886. Van Gogh later had many famous works of this school.

Now, conservators at the National Museum of Scotland will attempt to separate the portrait, while preserving the original painting, which is expected to present challenges. "It's like walking into a place you've never been before," Ms Stevenson said.