It is a well known fact that Vincent Van Gogh would paint over his own work again and again.

Now, in 2008 scientists have finally revealed the portrait of a woman thought to have been hiding just under the surface of “Patch of Grass,” created in 1887. This new technique based on “synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy” (repeat that three times fast) can measure the chemicals in pigment that help decipher the various images between each painted layer. These chemical differences are what separate one color from another within the layered surface of the painting forming a visually separate image.

This discovery will give art historians incite to the evolution of Van Gogh’s work and this newest technique will provide even more answers to other lost images perhaps hidden just under the surface of other artist’s paintings.

Can you imagine if they find a another masterpiece hidden behind the Starry Night oil painting?