In Pablo Picasso's 1900 painting "Le Moulin de la Galette," a depiction of a dog has been discovered underneath layers of paint. For decades, the adorable lap dog seated by a table with a few soused drinkers went unnoticed.

The painting which is on display through Aug. 6 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, is part of the 10-piece exhibition "Young Picasso in Paris," which features some of the Spanish artist's early work when he was living in France, New York Times reported. The Guggenheim announced the finding of a canine in its press materials for the show.

According to a CNN report, conservators with the Guggenheim, working with experts at the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., made the discovery using X-ray fluorescence. The dog can now be seen clearly, thanks to those scans. It may be a Cavalier King Charles spaniel that wears a red ribbon around its neck.

"It was interesting to me that he hastily painted over this dog, which would have been a rather compelling aspect of the composition," Julie Barten, a painting conservator at the Guggenheim told CNN.

When asked why did Picasso remove the dog? Ms Barten said it could be because the ribbon proved too "enticing," distracting the eye from the blurred dancers who move across the background.

Megan Fontanella, a curator at the Guggenheim, said that it was a "surprise and delight" to discover the dog hidden in the painting, as per New York Times report.

"When we embark on an analysis of a picture," she said, "we don't often know we're going to find something so interesting, enticing as a dog."