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CONCLUSION In the introduction to this publication we have stated that our research into Jobarde aims at giving new impetus to current authentication research by basing our analysis on a combination of the three most fundamental single fields of research. In doing so we were able to trace the ‘natural’ conception of a painting, in which three elements merge at the moment of creation: the intellectual process of the painter which is covered here by art historical research, the craft which is analyzed in painting technique research, and the selection of materials which we had investigated with different techniques in the material analysis. Within each of these three sections, a wide range of features were subjected to close scrutiny, but always within the context of Manet’s oeuvre as a whole and that of Jobarde in particular. In the evaluation these partial aspects were each assigned a status: negative if there was no reason to assume the authorship of Édouard Manet, neutral if there was neither denial nor confirmation of authorship, and positive if there was cause to assume Manet’s authorship. At first glance, Jobarde is difficult to place. Especially during art historical research the painting was slow to reveal its secrets and so the neutral status prevailed. From an art historical point of view, Jobarde could therefore be easily written off. However, the neutral status also implied that there were no reasons to question the painting’s authenticity and that these findings weren’t totally without significance, as further research proved. On the contrary, it actually raised the barrier for exclusion, especially when aspects of painting technique analysis and technical material analysis proved to be intertwined with aspects of the art historical research that have a neutral status, and this resulted in an accumulation of positive statuses. As our investigation progressed, this process led to new insights into authentication research in general and into Jobarde in particular. The first phase of our investigation consisted of art historical research, which was subdivided into five main groups: written sources, provenance, image research, oeuvre research and context. The written sources did not produce any solid facts about Jobarde and were therefore given a negative status. During our research into the painting’s provenance we were able to establish that Jobarde had surfaced on a number of occasions in time. The facts check out insofar as the painting is mentioned by existing experts, but their written reports are not sufficient proof of Manet’s authorship. Image research revealed that Manet returned to the theme of horses and people throughout his entire oeuvre, but that he only worked on the
