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Using a technique known as reflectology, which utilizes infrared technology to see what lies beneath layers of paint, researchers at the Uffizi Gallery, which houses the painting, were able to penetrate layers of paint that had been added in restoration jobs, revealing the artist at his easel.

The tiny image was first spotted in 1922 after an Italian restorer cleaned the work, though no one at the time recognized the person in the reflection as Caravaggio. The figure had “large eye sockets, a broad, slightly snub nose, and fleshy, slightly apart lips,” according to his notes.

Following the earlier discover, subsequent restoration work buried the image under thick layers of dark painting, blackening out the figure. Now, at least in the images made using reflectology, he is visible again.

The 400th anniversary of Caravaggio’s death is next year, and cultural authorities in Rome are mounting major exhibitions and celebrations in his honor.

Read more at the Telegraph.