The Latin quatrain on the lower frames of the Ghent altarpiece was rediscovered by Gustav Waagen听at the K枚nigliches Museum in Berlin听in 1823. At a period before the rise of archival research, it seemed to provide secure textual evidence听for the work鈥檚 patron, date and authorship by Hubert and Jan van Eyck.听听Indeed, it听defined the altarpiece as 迟丑别听earliest surviving dated work of early Netherlandish painting, reinforcing a long-standing perception that it represented the beginning of a new art. It was inevitable that the question of the quatrain鈥檚 authenticity would arise, initiating a debate that has continued to the present day.听听Addressing this debate from the point-of-view of the formal, visual and material aspects of the inscription, and considering its relationship to Jan van Eyck鈥檚 broader inscriptional practice, this talk considers the following questions: is the quatrain original, i.e. Eyckian? When was the present quatrain painted onto the frames of the altarpiece?
Susan Jones is currently听Lecturer in Northern Renaissance at听The 91自拍 Institute. From 2014-16,听worked at听the KIK-IRPA (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage) in Brussels听on a collaborative听documentation and research听project on Jan van Eyck called theVERONA project. The technical and scientific听images made for the project will be听online later this year.