Da Vinci sketch found under one of his works

LONDON – National Gallery experts using infrared techniques have discovered a Leonardo da Vinci sketch hidden underneath a painting by the master, conservationists said Friday.

The sketch – the first unknown Leonardo image to be found in decades – is beneath the delicate brushstrokes of the artist’s “Virgin on the Rocks,” a powerful scene of Christ’s mother in a dusky cavern, which hangs in the London museum.

The concealed image shows a woman with one hand clutched to her breast, the other outstretched, kneeling before what experts said was planned to be an infant Jesus. Leonardo apparently was planning a picture of the adoration of the Christ child, a scene popular with Renaissance artists, but changed his mind.

“It came as a complete surprise to find the sketch,” said Rachel Billinge, research associate in the conservation department of the National Gallery.

The National Gallery’s “Virgin on the Rocks” is a copy of the painting of the same name that now hangs in the Louvre in Paris. National Gallery experts were using infrared techniques to find out how the copy had been made when they found the sketch.

The Roman Catholic church had commissioned Leonardo to paint “The Virgin on the Rocks” for a Milan chapel altarpiece in 1483.

“When (da Vinci) completed the first painting, he was so pleased with it that he asked for more money, and when this was refused, he sold it privately,” Billinge said.

The artist later agreed to paint another picture – and probably started with the newly found sketch – but was persuaded to make a copy of the original “Virgin On The Rocks.”

The copy was put in the chapel in 1508.