X-ray reveals mystery of Antarctic oil painting

X-ray analysis has been applied to a 230-year-old painting by William Hodges, the artist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific (1772-75). Recently, it was noticed that the canvas was thicker in some places than in others. An X-ray subsequently revealed that two icebergs had been painted over and replaced with the lush green foliage of New Zealand, thus proving that Hodges' work is the oldest painting of Antarctica. The discovery ignited much discussion as to why Hodges erased the icebergs after having survived an extremely hard voyage around the frozen continent. The main news source is an article by Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/fronts/HOME). For more information about William Hodges's painting, see for example, http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/package/30/home.php