X-rays of Amedeo Modigliani’s 1908 painting “Nude with a Hat” yielded a surprise for curators at the Hecht Museum in Haifa: three unfinished sketches by the celebrated Jewish Italian artist were hiding beneath the surface.

Expecting to see further details of the barely visible third portrait, the curators instead discovered two additional unfinished sketches that were invisible to the naked eye.

Why did Modigliani crowd five portraits on one canvas?

Probably to save money. During his short life – he died at age 37 of tuberculosis aggravated by substance addiction — Modigliani was not a commercial success, and art supplies were expensive.