Only a madman could have painted The Scream. It was Munch himself who wrote this on the painting

On one of the world’s most famous paintings, Munch’sScream, there is a small pencil inscription, precisely in the upper left corner, declaring that that painting “can only have been painted by a madman.” The origin and author of the inscription, added over the color after the work had already been finished, have always been a mystery: an act of vandalism carried out by an indignant observer or an inscription made by Munch himself?

On the occasion of its future relocation to the new National Museum of Norway, due to open in 2022 in Oslo, the original painting executed by Edvard Munch in 1893 has undergone extensive research and study, and after years of speculation on the matter, curators at the Norwegian museum have discovered that the inscription was actually done by Munch himself.

The discovery was made possible through the use of infrared technology through which the handwriting could be analyzed and then compared with Munch’s notes and letters.

Mai Britt Guleng, curator of the Norwegian National Museum, says, “The handwriting is undoubtedly Munch’s. The writing itself, as well as the events that took place in 1895, when Munch first showed the painting in Norway, point in the same direction.”

The artist is thought to have written that sentence about the work in 1895, when the painting was first exhibited in his Oslo (which was still called Christiania at the time). In fact, the work had provoked much public criticism and speculation about the artist’s mental state: during an evening at the Student Association, at which Munch was probably present, the young medical student Johan Scharffenberg had questioned the painter’s mental health, saying that his paintings showed that he was not sane. It is likely, therefore, that Munch added the inscription in 1895, or soon after, in response to the judgment on his work: he was in fact very hurt by the accusations.

Visitors will be able to see the inscription for themselves when the painting is displayed in the new National Museum in Oslo: TheScream will in fact be displayed alongside Munch’s most iconic works in the new room dedicated to the artist.

“The new discovery adds a lot to Munch’s art. Every time we examine his works, new answers and perspectives emerge,” says National Museum director Karin Hindsbo.

Image: Edvard Munch, The Scream, detail (1893; 91 x 73.5 cm; Oslo, Nasjonalmuseet)

Only a madman could have painted The Scream. It was Munch himself who wrote this on the painting

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