Ghent Altarpiece: latest phase of restoration unmasks 16th century overpainting
theartnewspaper.com[Funny, in a nice way, to see Ghent, the city I live mentioned here.]
Speaking of the Altar Piece by Van Eyck, soon (01-Feb to 30-Apr 2020) there's going to be "the largest Van Eyck exhibition ever"[1]:
In 2020, the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) Ghent is organizing the largest Jan van Eyck exhibition ever. Only about twenty works of this Flemish master have been preserved worldwide. At least half of them travel to our museum. They are brought together with work from Van Eyck’s studio and copies of paintings that have since disappeared. But also with more than 100 masterpieces from the late Middle Ages. No less than 13 museum rooms are being redesigned for this.
If you're visiting Ghent I just did again yesterday and made a list of my favorite places: https://dokomaps.com/map/381/the-medieval-city-of-ghent-belg...
It seems kind of disappointing to remove these additions. It's interesting by itself what all was added and thinking for what reason. At least the previous versions will always exist online for anyone curious, and it is neat to make comparisons before/after restoration.
While the history of the additions could be quite interesting and we should make sure to document them well, I fail to see what's disappointing about removing them. Contrary, I think it would be disappointing were they kept in place.