Could Only Be Painted by a Madman?

Once upon a time, someone wrote "Could only have been painted by a madman!" on the first version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream". ... New research at the National Museum reveals that the handwriting belonged to Edvard Munch himself.

Can only be painted by a madman?

Norwegian curator said the inscription was written by Edvard Munch in 1895. It is a small, barely visible sentence written with a pencil on Edvard Munch's 1893 masterpiece The Scream. ... The sentence — "can only have been painted by a madman" — was scribbled in the top left-hand corner.

Can only have been painted by a madman in Norwegian?

“Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” Reads in Norwegian in the upper left corner of the original version of the work. It is translated: “Can only be painted by a madman!” The words are barely legible to the naked eye and were written on the canvas with a pencil after the painting was completed.