X-radiograph(s) of "Portrait of a Prelate" 

Editor: This is an X-radiograph of "Portrait of a Prelate" by Philippe de Champaigne. It feels so ghostly and stripped down. What can we learn from looking beneath the surface like this? Curator: Ah, it’s like peering into the soul of the painting, isn't it? You see the lead white, the thicker passages, the artist's initial thoughts. It’s the hidden narrative, the pentimenti, the secrets the artist thought they’d buried. Editor: Secrets? You mean like mistakes, or maybe hidden figures? Curator: Precisely! It’s the painter’s process laid bare. Forget the polished surface; here, we have the raw honesty of creation. It reminds us that art is rarely a straight line, but a journey of adjustments and reconsiderations. Editor: I never thought about X-rays showing artistic choices. That's fascinating! Curator: Indeed! It’s like archaeology of the artistic mind. Always revealing, always surprising.