Researchers solve riddles around Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”

“Could only have been painted by a madman,” says a barely legible note on Edvard Munch’s “ The  Scream”. Was it an act of vandalism – or a message from the artist?

Norwegian scientists have examined Edvard Munch’s painting “

 The  Scream” with an infrared scanner and are now certain:

 The  mysterious inscription in the upper left corner of the painting was made by the artist himself Written in pencil. For a long time it had been assumed that a disgruntled museum visitor could have damaged the 1893 work.

 The  mysterious inscription: It is now clear that Munch himself left the words on his painting. (Source: Børre Høstland /

 The  National Museum / dpa)

But after the experts from the National Museum in Oslo have compared their infrared scan of the inscription with Munch’s handwritten notes, the matter seems clear. “

 The  handwriting on the painting undoubtedly belongs to Munch,” said museum curator Mai Britt Guleng to the BBC. “

 The  inscription itself, but also the events of 1895, when Munch first showed the painting to the public, all point in this direction.”

“

 The  Scream” did not go down well in Norway. Munch had to listen to harsh criticism, and his mental health became a public issue. His diary shows that Munch was deeply affected by the reactions to his art. In fact, the artist, born in 1863, appears to have suffered from depression and anxiety, as did his father and sister.

 The  subsequent inscription on the painting was therefore probably Edvard Munch’s contribution to the debate among his critics.