Station #3: Now you see it. Now you don’t!
A new view using science to see behind the paint.
Why did artists hide their works?
Grade Band: 6-12
This is a simple demonstration you can do using the overhead projector. X-rays are used to see if artists reused their canvases, altered their painting or if the artist’s hid another work behind the one on the surface.
Aim: Students will
- Build a vocabulary list
- Observe and analyze the possibilities of hidden art
Materials:
Overhead projector
Selected transparencies
Protocols:
- By using the correct combination of pictures and transparencies (You will have to experiment with this yourself), you can show how you can reveal a transparency behind the one on top.
- First, use no light to see if students can detect the other picture behind the one you are showing them.
- Second, put the two transparency/picture combinations on the overhead and turn on the light.
- The light simulates x-rays, and students should be able to detect the bottom image.
- Have students do a web search to find famous painting that have other pictures underneath them.
- Make a display of tricks played by artists in this fashion.
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