The Annunciation of Petrus Cristus in the Metropolitan Museum and the Problem of Hubert Van Eyck

Abstract

The article by Erwin Panofsky, The Friedsam Annunciation and the Problem of the Ghent Altarpiece, which appeared in the December, 1935, issue of The Art Bulletin, constrains me to make a reply. In the course of his exposition, Panofsky expresses the belief that he is able to trace to a “fundamental error” the conclusions regarding the van Eyck problem that I set forth at length in the Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch and in the Burlington Magazine.¹ Among other things he writes: “Thus, the foundations of what Beenken claims to be the ultimate solution of the problem of Jan and Hubert fall to the ground.” The counterproof attempted by Panofsky, however, has not succeeded, as I intend to show. It miscarries as a consequence of its self-contradiction. Furthermore, the theories developed in the article mentioned are confusing to such an extent, that for the sake of scientific clarity it becomes a duty to set forth their inconsistency.