A Charming Stop on “The Road to Van Eyck”
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During the night your reporter learned that one of his favorite European museums, the Boijmans in Rotterdam, expects to receive an anonymous Netherlandish panel from an Italian private collection to grace its major fall exhibition, “The Road to Van Eyck.”
“The embalming of Christ in the triptych’s central panel is a scene that is rarely depicted,” says the museum. “According to international art experts the work was painted circa 1410 by an unknown artist in Bruges. Comparison with pre-Eyckian drawings and with miniatures from breviaries, as well as the way in which the embalming is depicted, have left international art experts with little doubt about the work’s provenance. The triptych may have been created for a hospital, as St. Anthony is called on to intercede for the sick and was the patron saint of many infirmaries. The painting is in good overall condition, but the image of Christ has suffered, probably because of the faithful constantly touching it in reverence.
“‘The Road to Van Eyck’ sheds light on how and by whom Jan van Eyck was inspired to develop his revolutionary, realistic style. Priceless and fragile paintings, sculptures, precious metalwork, miniatures, and drawings by the most important European artists, with masters such as Jean Malouel and the Master of Saint Veronica alongside works by Jan van Eyck himself, will be brought together in Rotterdam from collections across the USA and Europe. This is the first and, in view of the fragility of these works, probably the last time that an exhibition on this subject will be staged. The presentation includes five paintings by Van Eyck, as well as several miniatures and drawings that are attributed to him. One of the works comes from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, which is the only institution in the Netherlands to possess a Van Eyck in its collection.”
“The Road to Van Eyck” opens October 13 at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Museumpark 18-20, Rotterdam, 31 (0)10 44.19.400, boijmans.nl.
Franklin Einspruch is the art critic for The New York Sun. He blogs at Artblog.net.
