STAM museum responds to doubts around masterpiece
The STAM city museum in Ghent has responded to claims calling into question the authenticity of one of its masterpieces with a research project and exhibition that are crystal-clear on the painting’s origins
What lies beneath
“Panoramic View” was also considered to have great historic significance because the painting shows what the city looked like before Emperor Charles V had major urban works carried out. No wonder the government of Flanders decided to recognise the painting as a masterpiece in 2009.
In recent years, however, a number of scholars have called the painting’s 16th-century date into question. One historian even claimed that it might just as well be a romanticised copy created much later, in the 19th century.
So STAM sent the piece off to the Brussels-based Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (IRPA-KIK), which did an in-depth study and has now revealed these claims and doubts to be unfounded. Case 1534: A Masterpiece Under Investigation, an exhibition on view at the Ghent city museum STAM, explains what the scientists uncovered and why they’re so sure the painting (pictured) is not a fraud.
The exhibition reveals that the painting was named and dated from the inscription in the frame: “Ganda Gallie Belgice Civitas Maxima 1534” (Ghent Largest City of Gallia Belgica).
Most city portraits realised in the 16th century showed a similar tendency to boast the praises of the cities they depicted. “We’re talking about an era in which city portraits became an independent genre and no longer served as a background for religious scenes,” explains co-curator Wout De Vuyst. “In fact, these painter-mapmakers were the predecessors of the first cartographers, who would later skip perspective and stick to a top view.”
Rebutting the claims
But back to Case 1534. How can we be sure the painting was realised that year, when the latest available records of it go back until just 1728? It was at that time kept in the city’s Sint-Pieters Abbey and served as evidence in a trial between the City of Ghent and the bishop. How do we know with absolutely certainty that “Panoramic View” is not in fact a copy?
The changes the artist continuously made indicate it is an original work
The exhibition reveals that the proof is in the painting. For their Case 1534 investigation, the IRPA-KIK researchers used photographic techniques that allowed them to see a work’s individual layers. They found that the painting was clearly executed in two stages: first, the painter sketched his outlines and only later filled in the details.
“It is remarkable how detailed it is and how many corrections were made to the first drawing,” says De Vuyst. “The changes the artist continuously made, together with his fluency and artistic signature, indicate it is an original work."
Adds fellow curator Jeannine Baldewijns: “Comparisons with other city portraits of the same era don’t show any anomalies. Also, the black painted edges with nail holes are characteristic of 15th- and 16th-century canvas paintings.”
An intriguing mineral
Cross-sections of samples the researchers took from the paint layers showed pigments that were typical for the time. The presence of blue azurite, a mineral imported from Hungary, is especially intriguing.
“By the end of the 16th century, it would disappear from the Western European market, since the Turks occupied Hungary,” says De Vuyst. Though he admits that it’s impossible to be sure of the exact date, he notes that “all evidence indicates that the city portrait was painted between 1530 and 1540”.
But there were other discoveries, too. “We were often surprised by the results of interdisciplinary research,” says De Vuyst. “A specialist in waterways pointed out a relatively large river vessel on the Ketelvaart. It confirms recent archaeological discoveries, indicating that the Scheldt was originally far wider at the present-day Walloon Krook. Only later was more land claimed from the river by filling it up with the waste of nearby tanneries."
“Putting all the pieces of the puzzle together, through different disciplines, makes this kind of research complex but all the more intriguing,” says De Vuyst. “An ivory-tower mentality about your discipline will not get you anywhere here.”
Until 24 May, STAM, Godshuizenlaan 2, Ghent
Photo courtesy STAM
