Name: The secret lives of paintings
Uploaded: 2012-10-12T15:43:22Z
Duration: 12 min 17 s
Description: Art history is far from set in stone. Engineer Maurizio Seracini spent 30 years searching for Leonardo da Vinci's lost fresco "The Battle of Anghiari," and in the process discovered that many paintings have layers of history hidden underneath. Should they be part of the viewing experience too?

Art history is far from set in stone. Engineer Maurizio Seracini spent 30 years searching for Leonardo da Vinci's lost fresco "The Battle of Anghiari," and in the process discovered that many paintings have layers of history hidden underneath. Should they be part of the viewing experience too?

The secret lives of paintings

New imaging tools are transforming how art is understood, exposing centuries-old secrets beneath famous paintings. Decades of searching for Leonardo da Vinci’s lost fresco led to the discovery of pigments and images hidden behind walls and under layers of paint. In one case, a unicorn in a Renaissance portrait was revealed to be a puppy through X-ray analysis. These breakthroughs invite a blend of science and art to rewrite history and make viewers active participants in discovery.