Discovery and multi-analytical study of the last missing quarter from René Magritte’s La pose enchantée

Abstract

Abstract The last missing quarter of La pose enchantée, a 1927 Magritte’s oil painting disappeared in 1932, has been finally found beneath Dieu n’est pas un saint, picture painted by the Belgian surrealist between 1935 and 1936, conserved at the Brussels Magritte Museum (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium) (inv. 11681). The in-depth study conducted on Dieu n’est pas un saint by means of non-invasive and complementary imaging and analytical techniques has allowed formulating substantiated conclusions regarding this double painting. On the one hand, the routine imaging methods, including XRR, IRR and digital microscopy, have delivered a comprehensive outcome regarding the transformation process of the right top part of La pose enchantée into the current composition. On the other hand, the pigments used for both the visible and the hidden composition have been characterized through the MA-XRF analysis of the whole picture and punctual Raman measurements. Additionally, the present paper proposes a virtual colorization of La pose enchantée, which has been build on the basis of the overall material evidences collected about the right top part lying beneath Dieu n’est pas un saint.

Keywords

• René Magritte
• Hidden painting
• MA-XRF
• Pigments
• Non-invasive imaging techniques