What the Eyes Cannot See

This monograph is devoted to an intriguing aspect of medieval painting – preparatory designs, called underdrawings, which are usually only visible with special laboratory tools. Underdrawings have great value for the study of medieval painting because they allow us to see if and how the painter's original design changed in the final painting and help us analyze personal artistic styles of the individual workshop members who may have contributed to the panel's creation. The publication summarizes the results of a project focusing on the overall examination of a set of Bohemian panel paintings from the collections and the permanent exhibition of the National Gallery in Prague. <P>The introductory essays look at underdrawings from the perspective of an art-historian, a conservator, and a scientist. This opening part is followed by a catalogue that includes a selection of almost fifty artworks with each of the entries containing a wealth of photo-documentation obtained during the research. This is the first comprehensive examination of underdrawings presented to a Czech audience.</P>