The First Naturalistic Drawings of the Moon: Jan Van Eyck and the Art of Observation

Reaves G. and Pedretti C. , “Leonardo da Vinci's drawings of the surface features of the Moon”, Journal for the history of astronomy, xviii (1987), 55–58.

Ibid., Figure 1.

Ibid., Figure 2.

See White Lynn Jr , “Natural science and naturalistic art in the Middle Ages”, American historical review, lii (1947), 421–35. For more extended discussions, which include mention of Van Eyck, see: Goetz W. , “Die Entwicklung des Wirklichkeitssinnes vom 12. zum 14. Jahrhundert”, Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, xxvii (1937), 33–73; and, especially, Dvorak M. , “Idealismus und Naturalismus in der gotischen Skulptur und Malerei”, Historische Zeitschrift, cxix (1919), 185–246.

This point has not been remarked upon in even the most detailed analyses of Van Eyck's work. See, for example, Panofsky E. , Early Netherlandish painting (2 vols, Cambridge, 1953); Friedlander M. J. , Early Netherlandish painting (14 vols, New York, 1967–76); Dhanens E. , Hubert and Jan Van Eyck (New York, 1980).

Recent examples of writing expressive of the debates surrounding Van Eyck are Harbison C. , Jan Van Eyck: The play of realism (London, 1991) and Eichberger H. B. D. , Jan van Eyck als Erzähler (Worms, 1983).