{{Short description|Painting technique}} {{No footnotes|date=December 2020}} {{multiple image|total_width=450 |image1=Leonardo da Vinci - Portrait of a Musician - Before 1904-5 Restoration.jpg |image2=Leonardo da Vinci - Portrait of a Musician - Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.jpg |footer=(Left) The ''Portrait of a Musician'' by Leonardo da Vinci before 1904; (right) the ''Portrait of a Musician'' after a 1904–1905 restoration, which removed overpaint and revealed a hand holding sheet music }}
'''Overpainting''' is the final layers of paint, over some type of underpainting, in a system of working in layers. It can also refer to later paint added by restorers, or an artist or dealer wishing to "improve" or update an old image—a very common practice in the past. The underpainting gives a context in which the paint-strokes of the overpainting become more resonant and powerful. When properly done, overpainting does not need to completely obscure the underpainting. It is precisely the interaction of the two that gives the most interesting effects.
Overpainting was used extensively in many schools of art. Some of the most spectacular results can be seen in the work of Jan van Eyck.
It can be difficult to distinguish overpainting from underpainting in finished historical artworks in the absence of scientific tests. X-rays are often used to examine paintings because they allow the conservation technician to see what is hidden beneath a surface without having to damage it, depending on the materials used. By using different intensities of X-rays, experts can see different layers of paint and determine whether a canvas was ever painted over.
==See also== *{{annotated link|Pentimento}}
==References== *[https://www.amazon.com/Materials-Artist-Their-Use-Painting/dp/015657716X Max Doerner] *"Detecting Deception" in [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/forgery/index-e.html Detecting the Truth: Fakes, Forgeries and Trickery], a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada * An example of overpainting in [http://www.artandperception.com/2006/11/a-painting-a-in-several-days.html the contemporary still life painting of Hanneke van Oosterhout]
== External links == *[http://karlzipser.com/2009/03/how-to-a-paint-still-life.html Example of overpainting in still life]
{{Cultural Conservation-Restoration |state=expanded}}
Category:Conservation and restoration of paintings Category:Painting techniques