X-radiograph(s) of "Smiling Girl" 

Curator: Well, isn’t this peculiar? It feels like looking at Vermeer through a veil, or perhaps glimpsing a ghost in a machine. Editor: You’ve nailed it. What we’re seeing is an X-radiograph, about 14 by 17 inches, of the painting “Smiling Girl”, attributed to Jan Vermeer. It’s a peek behind the canvas. Curator: There's something incredibly haunting about it. The visible underpainting feels like a map of the artist's mind, the girl’s gaze almost accusatory. Editor: The X-ray reveals the structure beneath, the way the artist built up the image. Those ghostly white areas show where heavier elements, like lead white, were used. Curator: It makes me think about the layers of history and perception we impose on art—and the secrets they keep, right beneath the surface. Editor: Absolutely. It invites us to consider how much of an image is physical, and how much is simply... imagined. Curator: I suppose seeing what is not visible reveals a new way of looking into the soul of art. Editor: Precisely. It's like seeing the skeleton of a dream.