Jan van Eyck

The Ince Hall Virgin and Child is a small paintingthat was acquired by the Felton Bequest for theNational Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne in 1922.Since its discovery by Gustav Friedrich Waagen in1850 it had been attributed to the leadingRenaissance artist Jan van Eyck, and was regardedaround the world as a gem of early Netherlandishpainting. However, between 1956 and 1959 it wassubject to a technical and art historicalre-appraisal by European experts in there-classification of the work as a copy after a lostoriginal by Van Eyck, and possibly a forgery. This isthe first comprehensive review of the scientific andart historical analysis to be published since the1950s. It re-examines the autograph status of thework, to correct the inaccuracies and inconsistenciesof its analysis, to emphasise the ambiguous nature ofmuch of the evidence cited to sustain thede-attribution, and to present material that can beused to argue for the authenticity of the painting.More broadly, this book also sheds light on themethodologies of connoisseurship, the materials andtechniques of early Netherlandish painting, and theiconography of Jan van Eyck.

Autorentext

Hugh Hudson is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Culture and Communication at The University of Melbourne. He has an MA and a PhD in Art History from the University, and has taught there and at La Trobe University. He has published internationally on Italian and Netherlandish Renaissance art, the history of conservation, and collecting.

Klappentext
The Ince Hall Virgin and Child is a small painting that was acquired by the Felton Bequest for the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne in 1922. Since its discovery by Gustav Friedrich Waagen in 1850 it had been attributed to the leading Renaissance artist Jan van Eyck, and was regarded around the world as a gem of early Netherlandish painting. However, between 1956 and 1959 it was subject to a technical and art historical re-appraisal by European experts in the re-classification of the work as a copy after a lost original by Van Eyck, and possibly a forgery. This is the first comprehensive review of the scientific and art historical analysis to be published since the 1950s. It re-examines the autograph status of the work, to correct the inaccuracies and inconsistencies of its analysis, to emphasise the ambiguous nature of much of the evidence cited to sustain the de-attribution, and to present material that can be used to argue for the authenticity of the painting. More broadly, this book also sheds light on the methodologies of connoisseurship, the materials and techniques of early Netherlandish painting, and the iconography of Jan van Eyck.