The nine papers collected in this publication were first presented in conjunction with the Museum¿́¿s exhibition of Early Netherlandish painting culled from its own holdings, ¿́¿From Van Eyck to Bruegel,¿́¿ in 1998. The essays, by an international roster of leading specialists, together uncover the circumstances underlying the creation of the works and shed new light on their meaning in the context of the growing interdisciplinary activity and burgeoning scholarship in the field. The topics of inquiry addressed in this volume concern the relationship of text and image, archival work, economic/art market developments, and technical examinations. Each of these areas is considered in two parts: the first summarizes the history of the approach thus far, and the second consists of the respondent's comments on the proposal presented and the charting of unexplored territory for future study. The aim is to stimulate further discussion on existing methodology in the field, with a view toward developing new directions for explorations of Early Netherlandish painting. This publication continues the series of symposium volumes inaugurated by From Attila to Charlemagne. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.