Initially the figures sat before a continuous band of trees, silhouetted against a clear horizon. Additionally, a few of the female figures were once more modestly attired. In 1516, two years after finishing The Feast, Bellini died. Sometime thereafter, the setting of his picture was altered by Ferrara court artist, Dosso Dossi. In 1529, it is probable that Titian painted over most of the background again, giving it a mountain with steep cliffs and an ultramarine blue sky.
Visible traces remain of the two earlier landscapes.
New silver, for example, is highly refined, while old silver retains lead from its ore. The technique can also reveal if pigments in a painting are too new for the painting's supposed age. X- ray fluorescence comes in several flavors. A second approach, featuring a beam of high-e nergy protons, is being used at the Louvre in Paris, and elsewhere. As with neutron activation, the energy levels are the tip- off.