El retrato de Margarita van Eyck de Jan van Eyck: nuevas imágenes del Proyecto VERONA (Van Eyck Research in Open Access)/ Jan van Eyck’s Portrait of Margaret van Eyck. New Imaging by the VERONA Project (Van Eyck Research in OpeN Access)

Jones, Susan Frances, Fransen, Bart, Currie, Christina and Van der Snickt, Geert (2021) El retrato de Margarita van Eyck de Jan van Eyck: nuevas imágenes del Proyecto VERONA (Van Eyck Research in Open Access)/ Jan van Eyck’s Portrait of Margaret van Eyck. New Imaging by the VERONA Project (Van Eyck Research in OpeN Access). In: La Ciencia y el Arte VII: ciencias experimentales y conservación del patrimonio/ Science and Art VII. Science and technologies applied to heritage conservation. La Ciencia y el Arte (VII). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte, Madrid, pp. 74-95. ISBN 978-84-8181-760-7

Abstract

The application of a new tool of scientific analysis known as macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) scanning to the study of Jan van Eyck’s signed and dated Portrait of Margaret van Eyck (1439) demonstrates for the first time how Van Eyck changed the composition of the portrait at the painting stage. Along with X-radiography and infrared reflectography, among other technical methods, MA-XRF scanning reveals that an initial decision to alter the pose of the sitter’s hands initiated a series of other adjustments. It is now clear that the original pose mirrored that in a portrait of Isabella of Portugal, duchess of Burgundy, changing our understanding of one of the most significant portraits in Van Eyck’s oeuvre and shedding new light on Van Eyck’s process. The results offer a new basis for fresh research on topics connected to the portrait, such as identity, gender, social mobility and memory. The painting was examined as part of the VERONA project (Van Eyck Research in OpeN Access), which created high-resolution technical images of the oeuvre of Van Eyck and his circle, adopting a single, standardised imaging protocol for all of the paintings. The new imaging includes macrophotography (normal light, raking light, infrared and ultraviolet fluorescence), infrared reflectography and in some cases radiography and MA-XRF scanning. The project had 29 museum partners across Europe and the US; it was funded by BELSPO (the Belgian Federal Science Policy), in Brussels. In 2018, the resulting images were made available for research in open access on a specially designed website: Closer to Van Eyck | Further Works by Jan van Eyck (kikirpa.be).

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