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In his painting Christ Shown to the People (or Ecce Homo), Titian conjures a brutal scene. Beneath the eerie glow of a torchlight, Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea, presents Jesus to the unseen crowd who will decide his fate. Researchers in Cyprus, however, have recently discovered the Titian painting is more than simply a religious narrative: it’s also a puzzle, bearing a portrait hidden beneath layers of paint.
The Andreas Pittas Art Characterization Laboratories (APAC) at the Cyprus Institute was originally tasked with analyzing Ecce Homo’s materiality and state of preservation. While examining the painting under a microscope, the team noticed something unusual. Through cracks in the painting’s surface, different colored pigments peeked out.
“Microscopic observations of the craqueleure of the painting allowed us to … detect, through the cracks, the existence of different pigments under the Ecce Homo composition,” Nikolas Bakirtzis, APAC’s director, tells Artnet. “It was like uncovering a puzzle.”
With the help of X-ray visuals, the APAC team reconstructed the underlying composition beneath Ecce Homo. The result is a portrait of an unidentified man with a thin mustache. His expression is almost stern and, in his hand, he grasps a quill. He stands beside what appears to be a stack of paper or books, additional evidence of his potential class or occupation.
“It is clearly [a] portrait of a banker, a lawyer, some professional man in his workspace,” Bakirtzis explains.
Why, though, was this portrait buried beneath Ecce Homo, rather than granted its own canvas? Bakirtzis credits the decision to Titian’s thriftiness and artistic flexibility. Titian seemingly flipped the canvas upside-down and subsequently painted the new composition directly onto the portrait, pointing to, as Bakirtzis claims, “an experienced, confident artistic hand.”
“Turning the canvas upside-down helped to visually weaken or neutralize the portrait composition, thus facilitating the execution of the overpainting,” Bakirtzis explains.
Unseen Gaze, an exhibition showcasing Titian’s Ecce Homo and its secret portrait, is currently on view at Limassol’s Apothikes Papadaki center. To learn more about the exhibition and this astounding discovery, visit the Limassol website.
Researchers discovered a hidden portrait beneath Titian’s 1570 masterpiece Ecce Homo.
Titian, “Ecce Homo,” ca. 1570-1576. (Photo: St. Louis Art Museum, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
The secret composition was recreated using X-ray visuals and other scientific tools, revealing a portrait of an unidentified man.
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Titian’s hidden portrait and Ecce Homo are currently on view at Limassol’s Apothikes Papadaki center.
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Exhibition Information:
Unseen Gaze – The Hidden Portrait under Titian’s Ecce Homo
January 24–March 10, 2025
‘Ploutis Servas’ Municipal Apartment Buildings
23 Misiaouli and Kavazoglou Streets, Apothikes Papadaki, Limassol, Cyprus
Sources: “Unseen Gaze: Discovering an Unknown Work by Titian”: CyI Research Presented at Exhibition in Limassol; ‘Uncovering a puzzle’: Experts discover portrait hidden beneath Titian masterpiece
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