Scientism does not prevent us from seeing culture, but on the contrary, it makes us see it with different eyes and understand it much better.Ana González Mozo, Senior Museum Technician at the Prado Technical Documentation OfficeThe contemplation of artistic works is an enriching act on many levels, from aesthetic to educational.And, although the humanities and the sciences have traditionally been studied separately, the truth is that they are closely related.So much so that the scientific and technical advances applied to works of art add a new dimension to that experience.In the Prado Museum we find three examples of how science is helping restorers, historians and researchers to better understand the execution of works of art and the history they hide.And in The Brain Hunter we couldn't stay with the desire to learn more.In art museums we can find more science than we imagine.We discover the hidden laboratories in the Prado National Museum....In the laboratories of the 'bunker' of the Prado Museum they have an X-ray tube that allows, in a single exposure, a life-size X-ray, scale 1:1, of any painting.“X-rays are capable of going through all the layers that make up the work,” explains Laura Alba, specialist researcher in Technical Studies at the Prado.In this way, a great deal of information is obtained "of the support used, of the preparation layers to isolate that support, the pictorial layers, changes, modifications, trace original measurements...".By means of this technique, during the process of studying the painting Prayer in the Garden by Colart de Laon, prior to its acquisition by the museum, two hidden characters were found in the lower left corner.Thanks to the x-ray it was possible to see that one of these human figures, represented standing on the far left of the painting, was Saint Agnes.But the surprise came with the second covered character, who appears crouched between Saint Agnes and Jesus Christ: “we saw that one of the characters, the donor, had some golden nettles on his cape.Thus we were able to determine that he was Louis of Orleans, because the golden nettle is the motto of that house”.The before and after of the restoration of 'The Prayer in the Garden'.Attributed to Colart de Laon.AFP AFP PHOTO/ DOMINIQUE FAGETOnce the mystery behind that new layer of paint was discovered, a particle of the pigment was extracted with a scalpel to proceed to its chemical analysis in the laboratory: “in the superimposed layers of paint we can see that between the repaint and the original paint there is a layer of separation.This allowed the restorer to remove the back layer that covered Saint Inés and Luis de Orleans, without affecting the original layers of paint, as explained by chemist Lola Gayo.Through the optical microscope, morphological issues can be observed such as “how many layers are there, what colors are the pigments, what size are the grains, the cracks…”.But the scientific department of the Prado is not only focused on painting.Maite Jover, biologist and restorer, is able to place a work in its historical context through dendrochronology, the study of the growth rings of wood.“The pattern, the differences between the rings, are typical of a specific moment and place in history”, so that they ensure that the work had to be painted on that wood from that moment on.The oldest known copy of the Mona Lisa has been in the Prado Museum since the 19th century and there are records of it in Spain from at least the 17th century.A copy authorized and supervised by Leonardo da Vinci himself and made by one of his students in his workshop.But it was not until just a decade ago that its origin was confirmed, again, thanks to science.During a visit to the Prado in 2010, the curator of Italian painting at the Louvre Museum suggested that Ana González Mozo, senior museum technician at the Prado Technical Documentation Office, carry out a scientific study of this painting.At that time, the iconic female figure still appeared on a black background.By subjecting the painting to infrared reflectography, "lines began to emerge that are not seen in the original, corrections in the fingers that also exist in Leonardo's painting," explains the technician.Taking into account that the modifications that were also carried out in the original are replicated in the copy, in this case science clarifies that it is a copy made at the same time that the master carried out one of the best known and important in history.In 2012 it was concluded that the copy of the Mona Lisa was made by a Da Vinci student in his workshop THE BRAIN HUNTER“What you are playing is a sequence of work from an intermediate moment.From then on, they begin to have a parallel history”, underlines González Mozo.In addition, the chemical analyzes of the pigments used give rise to some compounds used in Leonardo's workshop, such as black carbon or red sanguine.“Until 2010, it seemed that Leonardo was alone and isolated in the world.Starting in 2010, a line of research was opened on the people around him and now we are investigating that workshop”, adds the researcher.Just as radiography allows us to obtain a photograph of all the matter that makes up the painting, infrared reflectography remains “at a superficial level, just the interesting one to see fundamental things: the underlying drawing, certain very slight regrets… it is practically like seeing the live creative process”, explains Jaime García-Máiquez, specialist researcher in Technical Studies at the Prado Museum.“Almost unpublished information that the painters themselves hid, thinking it would not be discovered, has an extraordinary documentary innocence”, adds García-Máiquez.“ We are getting into the mind of the artist when making significant changes“In La flagelación de Alejo Fernández, infrared reflectography has made it possible for some curious corrections to come to light.As a backdrop to the scene, seen between the columns of the palace, the city of Jerusalem was drawn at first.However, it ended up being replaced by a natural landscape.But the biggest change is the one made to the figure that, according to García-Máiquez, would represent Herod.In a first sketch, he appeared looking at the Jews, who pointed to the flogging.In the final version of the painting, instead of addressing the Jews, the king directs his gaze towards the scourging."We are getting into the mind of the artist when making significant changes from an iconographic or historical point of view."Infrared reflectography allows to discover underlying lines and traces THE BRAIN HUNTERIn short, the scientific studies carried out on these paintings have allowed us not only to better understand and value the works, but also to get closer to the artist's mind.As Ana González Mozo points out, "scientism does not prevent us from seeing culture, quite the contrary, it makes us see it with different eyes and understand it much better."