A New Look at Jan Van Eyck

The exhibition catalogue begins with an admission by its curator: ‘when the Madonna of Chancellor Rolin is installed at eye level on a wall and we look at it standing up, it is difficult to devote oneself to its contemplation, especially if there are many of us approaching at the same time, as the degree of miniaturisation of the details requires us to see it very closely, if possible alone, and for a long time’. We might as well advise his many admirers to avoid the Chapelle and wait until the summer to enjoy the painting in the peace and quiet of the second-floor rooms, but it would be absurd to miss this top-flight focus exhibition, which easily ranks among the best of the year. It has to be said that the cast here is a dream: one of the most beautiful paintings in the Louvre, the fruit of a meeting between one of the most powerful men of his time and one of the greatest artists of all time, and the subject of a long-awaited and exemplary restoration that has left us bereft of this masterpiece between autumn 2021 and spring 2024. Its return has been eagerly awaited!

1. Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441)
Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, c. 1430 ?
Oil on panel - 66 x 62 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: RMN-GP/M. Urtado

See the image in its page

The result is dazzling, given that the yellowing of the varnish layers had ended up obscuring Van Eyck’s panel (ill. 1), which was entrusted to Annie Hochart-Giacobbi and Patrick Mandron [1] and which not only regains its colours but also all its meaning since it can now be admired on both sides and not as an easel painting. To achieve this, a new frame had to be designed and produced, and Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau tells us all about it in the June issue of Grande Galerie, le Journal du Louvre, which makes it possible to imagine the perpetuation of the presentation inaugurated on the occasion of the exhibition, where the Virgin from Autun can at last be seen in full.

2. Jan van Eyck (c.…