A Brazilian art restorer has exposed a new layer hidden in a centuries-old painting of the Greek God of fertility Priapus, by French artist Nicolas Poussin - the deity's erect penis.
"They hid the phallus of Priapus. It's what we call adjustment for modesty, and it's not uncommon," said Regina Pinto Moreira, quoted in Tuesday's version of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. She suspects the cover-up was completed in conservative Catholic Spain in the 18th century.
"They hid the phallus of Priapus. It's what we call adjustment for modesty, and it's not uncommon," said Regina Pinto Moreira, quoted in Tuesday's version of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. She suspects the cover-up was completed in conservative Catholic Spain in the 18th century.
Moreira, who worked as a master art restorer at the Louvre in Paris for some 30 years, spent eight months alongside two French experts restore Poussin's large 1634-1638 painting "Hymenaios Disguised as a Woman During an Offering to Priapus."
Removing layers of dust, dirt and paint specks that accumulated over more than three centuries cost 150,000 euros (213,000 dollars). The artwork will be put on exhibit at Sao Paulo's grand Museo de Art (MASP) on September 8.
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