A previously unknown portrait of a woman by Vincent van Gogh has been revealed in a high-tech look beneath another of his paintings, it was announced today.

Scientists used a new technique to peer beneath the paint of van Gogh's "Patch of Grass." Already it was known there was something there, likely a portrait of some sort. Van Gogh was known to paint over his work, perhaps as much as a third of the time.

Behind the painting, done mostly in greens and blues, is a portrait of a woman rendered in browns and reds.

The new technique is based on "synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy" and is said to be an improvement on X-ray radiography, which has been used to reveal concealed layers of other famous paintings. The new method measures chemicals in the pigments. Specifically, mercury and the element antimony were useful in revealing the woman's face.

The work was done by researchers at Delft University of Technology in the the Netherlands and the University of Antwerp in Belgium, along with help from other institutions.

"Patch of Grass" was painted by van Gogh in Paris in 1887 and is owned by the Kröller-Müller Museum.

The reconstruction enables art historians to understand the evolution of van Gogh's work better, the researchers said in a statement. And the new technique is expected to pave the way for research into many other concealed paintings.

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                    Wed Jul 30, 11:03 AM ET

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A Dec. 21, 2007 photo provided by the German Electron-Synchrotron DESY on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 shows scientist Karen Rickers adjusting a special x-ray device to detect a hidden portrait under the Vincent van Gogh painting 'Grasgrond' from 1887, center, at a DESY laboratory in Hamburg, northern Germany.

(AP Photo/DESY, Manfred Schulze-Alex)

                   

                   

                    Wed Jul 30, 11:29 AM ET

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In this undated photo provided by Germany's Electron-Synchrotron, DESY, Wednesday, July 30, 2008, a special x-ray device used to detect a hidden portrait under the Vincent van Gogh painting ''Patch of Grass'' from 1887, center, is seen at a DESY laboratory in Hamburg, Germany. European scientists say they have developed a new method for extracting images hidden under old masters' paintings without harming them, and have unveiled a color portrait of a woman's face unseen since Vincent van Gogh painted over it in 1887. Joris Dik is a materials scientist from Delft University in the Netherlands. He says he used a particle accelerator and knowledge of metals in 19th century paint pigments to examine 'Patch of Grass,' a small oil study of a field that Van Gogh painted in Paris.

(AP Photo/DESY)