The Herd Nearby
The cottage
The X-ray photo shows that Van Gogh had used this canvas earlier. There is another painting underneath The cottage, of a shepherd and his sheep. Because he painted directly over the earlier picture, the X-ray is easy to ‘read’. You can see the texture of the paint in the underlying painting with the naked eye, especially at lower right. The paint surface is very irregular there.
Compare the painting in normal light, in raking light, and with X-rays.