Molly Faries, Indiana University & Groningen University, Re-reading the Evidence: Perspectives on Technical Studies of Early Netherlandish Painting Ron Spronk, Harvard University Art Museum, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Early Years of Conservation and Technical Examinations of Netherlandish Paintings at the Fogg Art Museum J.R.J. Van Asperen de Boer, Professor Emeritus, Groningen University, Slowly towards Improved Infrared Reflectography Equipment Peter Klein, University of Hamburg, Dendrochronological Analyses of Netherlandish Paintings E. Melanie Gifford, Susana Halpne and Suzanne Quillen Lomax, National Gallery of Art, Issues surrounding the painting medium: a case study of a pre-Eyckian altarpiece Teri Hensick, Harvard University Art Museums, The Fogg's Copy After a Lost Van Eyck: Conservation History, Resent Treatment and Technical Examination of the Woman at Her Toilet Gianfranco Pocobene and Ron Spronk, Harvard University Art Museums, The Fogg's Virgin and Child from the Workshop of Dirck Bouts: Findings from Technical Examinations and Recent Conservation Treatment Henry Lie, Harvard University Art Museums, Digital Imaging for the Study of Paintings: Experiences at the Straus Center for Conservation Maryan W. Ainsworth, Metropolitan Museum of Art, What's in a name? The Question of Attribution in Early Netherlandish Painting "The volume brings together the connoisseurship and experience of outstanding scholars and leading scientists. It will highly benefit to all working in the field of technical examination." (H. Verougstraete in Sehepunkte, 5 (2005), nr. 2, 15.02.2005)u

The nine papers collected in this publication- which comprises the third and latest edition to the symposium volumes by the Metropolitan Museum of Art - were first presented in conjunction with the Museum's exhibition of Early Netherlandish painting culled from its own holdings in 1998. The essays, by an international roster of leading specialists, together uncover the circumstances underlying the creation of works of art and shed new light on their meaning, in the context of the growing interdisciplinary activity and burgeoning scholarship in the field. The importance of archival research into the socio-economic factors that existed in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries is emphasized- especially, the impact of art markets on the production of paintings as well as sculpture. Much new material has surfaced as a result of advances in the technical investigation of works of art, underscoring the premise that the clues to the meaning of a work are often found not only in its method of manufacture but also in the specific audience for which it was intended and in the function that it originally served for that audience. -- Publisher description.

An illustrated scholarly analysis of the art and the cultural interpretations of the Flemish Primitives.

Early Netherlandish Painting will be equally welcome to the art lover , the museum and the reference library, giving access to the last major collection early Netherlandish painting to remain in private posession. It includes over forty masterpieces by Robert Campin, Petrus Chritus, Jacques Daret, Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling and Rogier van der Weyden. The collection is also rich in works by the painters of the new generation of the early 16th century. An extensive introduction to the period precedes the catalogue of 43 paintings by masters including Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Robert Campin and Hans Memling. A very substantial introduction by Colin Eisler illuminates the background to early Netherlandish art and traces its development through the paintings. The extensively illustrated catalogue was prepared with the collaboration of graduate students at the Intsitute of Fine Arts, New York. Dr Emil Bosshardt, Conservator at the Villa Favorita, and Elizabeth Ardrery contribute to the paintings' technical examination. Infra-red reflectography has been used to examine each work and the results are published alongside the finished painting.

Publisher Description