Pentimento
DEFINITION
A condition of old paintings where lead-containing pigments have become more transparent over time, revealing earlier layers.<br><br>An underlying image in a painting, as an earlier painting, a part of a painting, or original drawing, that shows through, usually when the top layer of paint has been worn or become transparent with age. These images which were supposed to be hidden often appear like ghosts; not entirely solid. Many result from a painter's decision that a nearly finished picture needs to be altered, but the new passage is made with too thin a layer of paint. Pentimento is Italian for "repentance". The plural form is pentimenti.Also see infrared reflectography (IR), overpainting, underpainting, and palimpsest.