'Closer to Van Eyck' (VERONA Project) - An open access resource offers new insights

Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), 1433 (detail) © The National Gallery, London

VERONA (Van Eyck Research in Open Access) is a project carried out by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels, an organisation dedicated to the documentation, examination, conservation and promotion of the artistic and cultural heritage of Belgium.

VERONA was launched a few years ago by the Centre for the Study of the Flemish Primitives at KIK-IRPA to enable in-depth studies into the creative process of Jan van Eyck (active 1422; died 1441) and fresh analysis of the different hands in paintings produced in his workshop. The project’s original focus on the Ghent altarpiece was significantly expanded at the beginning of 2018, and the ‘Closer to Van Eyck’ website now constitutes a rich resource of macro photos and scientific images of 20 works by Jan van Eyck from several European collections.

Results of recent scientific investigations of the paintings are shared in open access as high resolution images, with zoom and split-screen functions, enabling interested scholars and art historians to study the oeuvre of Jan van Eyck and his workshop in an unprecedented way, gain fresh insights and draw new comparisons.