AMSTERDAM — Researchers at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston have discovered a lost painting by Vincent van Gogh hidden under another work by the Dutch master in their collection.

Museum conservator Meta Chavannes was conducting an examination of a painting titled “Ravine” and discovered the existence of a second painting called “Wild Vegetation,” the museum said. Van Gogh had done a pen-and-ink drawing of the painting, which is owned by the Van Gogh Museum, in Amsterdam.

The museums studied X-rays of “Ravine” that proved the existence of a second painting matching the drawing.

“We already had the feeling there would be a painting linked to this drawing, but until now we had never found the painting,” Natalie Bos, a spokeswoman for the Van Gogh Museum, said in a phone interview yesterday.

Van Gogh, who died in 1890 at the age of 37 after he shot himself, probably painted “Wild Vegetation” in June 1889 while staying in a mental hospital in southern France, both museums said.

In October 1889, he painted “Ravine” over the existing work because of a delay in the delivery of new canvas, the museums said.

“This way we get even more insight into the life and work of Vincent van Gogh,” Ms. Bos said. “Van Gogh made drawings of his paintings so he could show them to his brother Theo. Drawings are easier to transport.”

The Boston museum said the “Wild Vegetation” drawing might be part of a dozen drawings of paintings that the artist sent to Theo in July 1889.

The “Wild Vegetation” drawing will be added to a current exhibition in Amsterdam on Van Gogh’s drawings next week, according to the Van Gogh museum. The Boston museum said “Ravine” is on view in its Impressionist gallery.

Separately, a portrait attributed to van Gogh for more than 70 years was not painted by the Dutch master, an Australian gallery said yesterday, after tests were conducted to check its authenticity.

“Head of a Man” was examined by the Van Gogh museum. The museum concluded the canvas was painted by an unidentified contemporary of Van Gogh.