Book Description

Surviving pre-Eyckian panel painting of around 1400 is in short supply, but more remains than was thought. At present the list of works to be studied includes some thirty objects in collections in Belgium and elsewhere. In the first volume ten objects, which in fact constitute the majority of pre-Eyckian works in Belgian collections, are documented as thoroughly as possible. Their interpretation is underpinned not only by classic art historical analysis but also by macro-photography, X-radiography, infrared photography and reflectography, dendrochronological data and, in so far as was feasible or justifiable, laboratory analysis of pigments and binding media. The research has benefited to the full from the expertise of the many specialists of the IRPA/KIK. In volume two of this publication are a number of individual contributions by 'guest authors'. They cover diverse topics, ranging from specific technical observations regarding one noteworthy feature or group of works, to historical context, peripheral iconographic phenomena, aspects of restoration, and the exploration of Ghent's archives by way of a case study.