The Ghent Altarpiece: a bibliography

Abstract

"The immense body of literature that has grown up around the Ghent Altarpiece poses a particular challenge to anyone researching this masterpiece by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck. Over the years, hundreds of articles have been published in different languages, together with numerous monographs and exhibition catalogues. In addition to these scholarly contributions, there is a whole range of publications aimed at a more general readership. The themes studied are, moreover, highly varied, a diversity that does not make it any easier to compile a survey of the literature that aims to be both complete and relevant. [...] The bibliography is ordered chronologically and is a reflection to some extent of trends in the research devoted to the Ghent Altarpiece over the years. The publications deal with themes such as the work’s eventful history, the role of Hubert van Eyck, the return of the panels from the Altaussee salt mines in 1945, the polyptych’s original display, the stylistic formal idiom, the iconographic programme, the technical characteristics, the commission of the altarpiece, the historical context, the creation process and the role and organization of the Van Eyck’s workshop"-- Foreword (pages 7, 9).