Répétons-le: Maryan W. Ainsworth propose un ouvrage à la pointe de l?érudition et du savoir; félicitons-la aussi pour l?iconographie très riche, n?obligeant pas le lecteur à rechercher les figures à travers le livre. Regrettons cependant l?absence d?index, des personnes, des lieux et des ?uvres. » (Jacques Paviot, dans Francia-Recensio, 4, 2023) BIO Maryan Ainsworth is Curator Emerita in the Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Sophie Scully is Assistant Conservator in the Department of Paintings Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Silvia Centeno is Research Scientist in the Department of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Marc Smith is Professor of Paleography at the École des Chartes in Paris, France Christina Meckelnborg is Professor Emerita of Classical and Medieval Studies at the University of Osnabrück, Germany SUMMARY Among the most intriguing and confounding works of Jan van Eyck?s oeuvre are the Crucifixion and Last Judgment in New York?s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although acquired in 1933 as a diptych, questions have remained about their initial configuration, and how these paintings functioned. The recent technical investigations of the paintings and their original frames added further complexities to these inquiries when a fragmentary text in Middle Dutch was discovered through X-radiography on the frames surrounding the two paintings. The many facets of the ensuing investigation necessitated an interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers involving an art historian, paintings conservator, and museum scientist ? namely, Maryan Ainsworth, Sophie Scully, and Silvia Centeno. Moreover, the new discovery of the formerly hidden text called for the enrichment of the interdisciplinary team by a paleographer and a classical philologist, Marc Smith and Christina Meckelnborg. This book relates the unfolding story of the investigations from in-depth technical research, facilitating the conservation treatment of the frames, to the art historical study that connected these findings to the religious, political, and social contexts of the times. Through considerable interdisciplinary detective work, it was possible to reach a new understanding about the original form and function of the Crucifixion and Last Judgment and their pivotal role concerning devotions to a cherished relic, the Miraculous Bleeding Host, housed in the then collegiate church of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula in Brussels. The implications of these discoveries also shed new light on the relationship between The Met Crucifixion and Van Eyck?s metalpoint drawing of the same theme in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Finally, the study of the Crucifixion and the Last Judgment draws attention to commissions Van Eyck received that are somewhat outside of the canon of works usually associated with this esteemed artist. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Maryan W. Ainsworth The Technical Examination and Restoration of the Frames Sophie Scully and Silvia A. Centeno In Search of the Original Form and Function of the Crucifixion and Last Judgment Maryan W. Ainsworth Investigating Van Eyck?s Working Technique Sophie Scully and Silvia A. Centeno Attribution and Dating Questions in Historical Context Maryan W. Ainsworth Reconsidering the Relationship Between The Met Painting and the Rotterdam Crucifixion Drawing Maryan W. Ainsworth Appendix A. Deciphering the Middle Dutch Text on the Crucifixion and Last Judgment Frames Marc Smith ? Appendix B. Transcriptions of the Texts within the Crucifixion and Last Judgment Christina Meckelnborg Bibliography