The message “It may have been painted only by a madman”, scratched and barely visible in the upper left corner of the painting, has been the subject of debate for decades and was believed to be an act of vandalism by a spectator of the play.
The painting was hung at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2015. It has rarely been exhibited in recent years due to damage. Credit: BAS CZERWINSKI / AFP / AFP / Getty Images
But extensive research by the National Museum of Norway has shown that Munch wrote the phrase himself.
The expressionist masterpiece is one of the most famous works of the modern era, announced as a timeless description of human anxiety. The anxious face of the subject has become so familiar that he has recently been given his own emoji.
The curators used infrared technology to analyze the message, which was added above the finished painting, comparing it to Munch’s notes and letters and studying the events during the first public presentation of the work.
“The writing is undoubtedly Munch’s,” concluded Mai Britt Guleng, the museum’s curator. “The handwriting itself, as well as the events that took place in 1895, when Munch first showed painting in Norway, all point in the same direction.”
After the first public revelation, some critics rejected the disturbing painting and there were frantic discussions about Munch’s mental state, giving credence to the idea that an outraged third party had written his own cursing review of the work itself.
But curators said the reaction was probably what prompted Munch to add the addition, with the artist upset by the critical response to the painting when he first showed it in his hometown of Kristiania (now Oslo).
“In an evening of discussions at the Students’ Association, where Munch is believed to have been present, young medical student Johan Scharffenberg questioned Munch’s mental health, claiming that his paintings proved that he did not have a healthy mind.” said the museum. “It is probable that Munch added the inscription in 1895, or shortly thereafter, in response to the judgment on his work.”
They added that Munch was injured by the prosecution and referred to it again in his diaries.
The “scream” is said to have been inspired by a walk Munch took through the city while in a state of mental and physical anxiety.