(15) infrared reflectography

The results of infrared reflectography are even more striking for The Garden of Delights/El Jardín de las Delicias, where it appears that there was once a giant lizard in the right panel. It could almost be the remnant of a completely different painting, except that it resembles an illustration of a salamander in the Margarita Philosophica, which has already been mentioned in connection with memory images. It makes sense as an illustration in a schoolboy's text (since Murner's memory images also included interesting things like bugs), and also as part of a series of images having to do with alchemy. But in the context of New World images, it might have been regarded as potentially offensive. There were a few Arawak words that Europeans learned early and have never forgotten, including (in their English spellings) potato, hurricane, hammock, and iguana. The word iguana is said to be a harmless transcription of the Arawak word iwana, but it sounds just like "y Juana," and it seems reasonable to suppose that if Juana chanced to see an iguana or a picture of one, she would not be amused. She also may have had reason to dislike or at least mistrust Peter Martyr, the Italian diplomat who reported news from the New World, including new words, and at one point was also assigned to report on Juana's sanity or lack of sanity. He described the "iguana serpents" as looking like crocodiles.

There is an exhibition showing the results of infrared photography at the Museo Del Prado, through November of this year, The Hidden Line/El Trazo Oculto.