An investigation showed it to have been heavily overpainted, with up to 70% of the surface not original. In September the painting was scanned and x rayed at the Hamilton Kerr Institute to determine whether the original Maclise work was underneath. The painting underneath was confirmed as the original 1847 work by Maclise, a friend of Charles Dickens. It remained in Catherine’s possession after she separated from Dickens in 1858. The museum, which holds the world’s most comprehensive collection of Dicken’s material in the house where he completed The Pickwick Papers and wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby, is working to raise funds for a complete restoration of the Maclise painting.

The overpainted portrait by Daniel Maclise of Catherine Dickens being examined at the Hamilton Kerr Institute.

The x-ray showing the original work underneath