Specialists at the National Gallery of Scotland have discovered a previously unknown self-portrait of the artist on the back of Vincent van Gogh's " According to the Air Force, the discovery was made due to the fact that in preparation for the exhibition, the canvas was illuminated with X-rays..

The self-portrait was hidden under layers of glue and cardboard. Gallery senior Leslie Stevenson said she felt 'shocked' when she saw Van Gogh's self-portrait. She added that this is an important discovery because "

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Van Gogh often reused canvases to save money.. During his lifetime, his works were not sold, fame came to him only after his death.. The artist died in 1890 at the age of 37..

" The canvas depicts a local resident of the town of Nuenen in the south of the Netherlands, where the artist lived from December 1883 to November 1885.

Van Gogh probably painted a self-portrait from the other side later, at a key moment in his career, after he moved to Paris and became acquainted with the work of the French Impressionists..

Approximately 15 years after his death, the " Researchers believe that it was then that the canvas was pasted onto cardboard before being framed..

It seems that the "

Restoring a hidden self-portrait is possible, experts say, but the process of removing glue and cardboard will require delicate conservation work.. Researchers are trying to figure out how to do it without damaging the Peasant Woman's Head..

Earlier, the curators of the Museum of the University of Haifa in Israel discovered previously unknown drawings under the painting by Amadeo Modigliani " The discovery was made using an X-ray scan of the canvas..