Summary: A painting of a naked woman by Picasso has been hidden under one of his "Blue Period" works for almost a century. With the help of artificial intelligence, researchers have been able to reproduce the lost painting. A painting of a naked woman by Pablo Picasso that has been hidden beneath one of his'Blue Period' masterpieces for more than a century, has been recreated by UCL scientists using a combination of X-rays, AI and 3D-printing. PhD researchers Anthony Bourached (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) and George Cann (UCL Space and Climate Physics) have developed a five-step technology to reproduce art works, that have been painted over. For this, their third reproduction, they bought back to life the Spanish artist's depiction of a crouching nude woman; the painting was thought to have been lost until 2010 when X-rays revealed it lay behind The Blind Man's Meal. Dubbed'The Lonesome Crouching Nude', the image is also depicted as an unfinished painting in the background of Picasso's famous La Vie (The Life).

A painting of a naked woman by Pablo Picasso that has been hidden beneath one of his "Blue Period' masterpieces for more than a century has been recreated by UCL scientists using a combination of X-rays, AI and 3D printing. Ph.D. researchers Anthony Bourached (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) and George Cann (UCL Space and Climate Physics) have developed a five-step technology to reproduce art works that have been painted over. For this, their third reproduction, they bought back to life the Spanish artist's depiction of a crouching nude woman; the painting was thought to have been lost until 2010 when X-rays revealed it lay behind "The Blind Man's Meal." Dubbed "The Lonesome Crouching Nude," the image is also depicted as an unfinished painting in the background of Picasso's famous "La Vie" (The Life). By using a combination of spectroscopic imaging, artificial intelligence, and 3D printing, the duo have created a full-size, full-color painting, which includes 3D textured brushstrokes. To help ensure the recreation was as close in look, feel and tone to the original, they developed an AI algorithm that analyzed dozens of Picasso's paintings and trained itself to understand the artist's style. Commenting, Bourached, who is researching Machine Learning and Behavioural Neuroscience at UCL, said, "We believe that Picasso likely painted over this piece with reluctance.

George Cann from the department of Space and Climate Physics at UCL said: "I hope that Picasso would be happy in knowing the treasure he's hidden for future generations is finally being revealed, 48 years after his death and 118 years after the painting was concealed. "I also hope that the woman within the portrait would be happy in knowing that she hadn't been erased from history and that her beauty was finally being revealed in the 21st century. "At the time that Picasso painted The Lonesome Crouching Nude and The Blind Man's Meal he was poor and artist materials were expensive, so he likely painted over the former work with reluctance. "The fact that the woman within The Lonesome Crouching Nude is also within La Vie and a few of Picasso's sketches suggests that Picasso may have had an affinity towards this woman."

A hidden Picasso painting of a naked, crouching woman that lies underneath one of his other works has been reconstructed by scientists using artificial intelligence and three-dimensional printing. The team from University College London (UCL) said that their one-off replica of'The Lonesome Crouching Nude' will ensure the work is no longer'erased from history'. Experts believe that Picasso painted over the work with some reluctance in order to reuse the expensive canvas at a time, early in his career, when he was relatively poor. The original was first revealed under Picasso's late 1903 work'The Blind Man's Meal' -- a restatement of the Christian sacrament -- by X-ray fluorescence scans in 2010. Its discovery ended a long search for the lost work -- which was known from its depiction in the background of'La Vie', a contemporary oil painting by Picasso.