Modern Eyes, Old Secrets

Art historians using modern technology keep finding hidden layers in family portraits. X-ray and infrared analysis show that painters often changed compositions while they worked — adding children born during the months of painting, removing figures who died or fell from favor, and updating clothing to match new fashions.

A wealthy merchant might order a portrait with three children, then ask for a fourth child added when a new baby arrived. A wife's jewels might be painted over with plainer accessories after a financial setback. Each change quietly records a family riding the ups and downs of fortune.