Art term - GBQ

[ringer]

I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction for this:

Formerly it was not uncommon for an artist to change or correct an original effort by painting over it. With the passage of time the outer layer of paint often faded, thus revealing the first version of the work. Which one word Italian term describes this process and, for that matter, the original image? 

[kosoro]

Hi ringer ..

Try posting this under  Arts and literature,  you may get a quicker response

[Aquariel]

If it's the word I'm thinking of, it's derived from the Italian word for repentance ... that may or may not help you!

And it was also an episode title in an American paranormal TV series shown in 1998!

[Narolines]

With written documents this would be a palimpsest, but that's not Italian and I'm fairly sure it doesn't cover painted images - so it's of no use to you whatever! Sorry!

[biley]

Aquariel is quite right I think - I think the word you are looking for is PENTIMENTO.

The revealing of a (part of a) painting beneath another painted over it at a later time; such a part or painting revealed: plural pentimen'ti. Italian, from pentirsi to repent

[biley]

My sincere apologies, ringer, if you did not want to know the answer, just a clue. Mea Culpa.