Hidden works of art

Queen of Sheeba sent us a link to an article about artwork hidden using a technique of painting on the edges of the pages of a book, called fore-edge painting. The artwork can only be seen when the pages are fanned. When the book is closed, you don’t see the image because it is hidden by the gilding, the gold leaf applied to the edges of the page.

The article contains numerous photos and some videos. Please make sure you visit the site to see them all, and to learn further details about the books. Thanks QoS, I found it fascinating!

Here's a sample:

The first two photos are from the University of Iowa Library, the others were courtesy of Boston Public Library and  following photo is courtesy of Johns Hopkins Library. It's a bible with split fore-edge painting:

Link to article: http://twistedsifter.com/2013/09/hidden-artworks-on-the-edges-of-books/