In studying the Feast of the Gods, we are looking for traces of the past. We can ask several questions. For example, what changes were made to the picture? Who made the changes? Why was the painting altered?

How do we answer these questions? To begin, we look at the artistic style. The figures in the picture are painted in a conservative 1510's style, but the background landscape is in a dynamic 1520's style. There was a big change in style during those ten years. We begin our investigation by looking at Artists' styles.

Subsequent sections (at left) introduce scientific techniques, such as X-ray cameras, infrared camera, microscopic paint samples, and how these techniques are used.