Jan van Eyck
Netherlands Northern Renaissance Artist
1395 - 1441

Alledged Self Portrait of Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck was an Early Netherlands painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century.
There is a common misconception, which dates back to the sixteenth-century Vita of the Tuscan artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari, that Jan van Eyck invented oil painting. It is however true that he achieved, or perfected, new and remarkable effects using this technique.

Portrait of Giorgio Vasari

Jan van Eyck has often been linked as brother to painter and peer Hubert van Eyck, because both have been thought to originate from the same town, Maaseik in Limburg (Belgium). Another brother, Lambert van Eyck is mentioned in Burgundian court documents, and there is a conjecture that he too was a painter, and that he may have overseen the closing of Jan van Eyck's Bruges workshop. Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France, Barthélemy van Eyck, is presumed to be a relation.
The date of van Eyck's birth is not known. The first extant record of van Eyck is from the Court of John of Bavaria at The Hague, where payments were made to Jan van Eyck between 1422 and 1424 as court painter, with the court rank of valet de chambre, and first one and then two assistants. This suggests a date of birth after 1395, and indeed probably earlier. His apparent age in his probable self-portrait (below) suggests to most scholars an earlier date than 1395. Miniatures in the Turin-Milan Hours, if indeed they are by van Eyck, are likely to be the only surviving works from this period, and about half of these were destroyed by fire in 1904.

Man in a Turban: 1433

Remarkable though it is, the description of the sitter - with the stubble on his chin prickly against the soft fur collar, and his bloodshot left eye - is less arresting than the depiction of his head-dress. Van Eyck is noted for the impassivity of his figures, and it is instructive to compare this portrait with that by the Master of Flémalle (Robert Campin) of a man wearing a similar red hat. There, the scarf ends hang down, serving to frame a face in which we read force of character and upon which we can project an inner emotional life. Van Eyck's personage gives much less away. A greater area of the picture is taken up by his red hat than by his face, its three-dimensional bulk is more assertive, it folds and tucks more dramatic. Perhaps the hat was studied at greater length, perhaps on a stand, independently of the sitter and, like a studio still-life, arranged by the painter, knotted and tweaked to present its most picturesque aspect.
Van Eyck's ability to depict it in such a realistic manner relies greatly on his control of the oil medium, which unlike tempera enables him to represent dark shadows and paler highlights without losing the glowing overall red hue.

Following the death of John of Bavaria, in 1425 van Eyck entered the service of the powerful and influential Valois prince, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Van Eyck resided in Lille for a year and then moved to Bruges, where he lived until his death in 1441. A number of documents published in the twentieth century record his activities in Philip's service. He was sent on several missions on behalf of the Duke, and worked on several projects which likely entailed more than painting. With the exception of two portraits of Isabella of Portugal, which van Eyck painted on Philip's behest as a member of a 1428-29 delegation to seek her hand, the precise nature of these works is obscure.

Isabella of Portugal: 1428

As a painter and "valet de chambre" to the Duke, Jan van Eyck was exceptionally well paid. His annual salary was quite high when he was first engaged, but it doubled twice in the first few years, and was often supplemented by special bonuses. His salary alone makes Jan van Eyck an exceptional figure among early Netherlands painters, since most of them depended on individual commissions for their livelihoods. An indication that Van Eyck's art and person were held in extraordinarily high regard is a document from 1435 in which the Duke scolded his treasurers for not paying the painter his salary, arguing that Van Eyck would leave and that he would nowhere be able to find his equal in his "art and science." The Duke also served as godfather to one of Van Eyck's children, supported his widow upon the painter's death, and years later helped one of his daughters with the funds required to enter a convent.

Portrait of Margareta van Eyck: 1439

The small, intimate picture is the portrait of Margareta van Eyck, the painter's wife. The portrait is transparently shadowed and its white hood subtly modeled. Until the French Revolution, the painters' corporation kept this work in its chambers, treating it almost like a holy relic. How it came to be there remains unknown, especially since its creator, a court painter, had never been a guildsman. Completed in 1439, just two years before his death, Van Eyck may have intended the work for his home. Perhaps he gave it to his wife as a birthday present, as the panel incorporates the mock-chiseled 'speaking' inscription - my husband Johannes finished painting me in the year 1439 on 15 June / my age was thirty-three. This is followed by the artist's own motto in Greek characters, meaning (to the best of my ability), probably an anagram of his name based on the traditional closing formula used by manuscript copyists. Van Eyck was, after all, a copier of reality.

Jan van Eyck produced paintings for private clients in addition to his work at the court. Foremost among these is the Ghent Altarpiece painted for Jodocus Vijdts and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. Started sometime before 1426 and completed, at least partially, by 1432, this polyptych has been seen to represent "the final conquest of reality in the North", differing from the great works of the Early Renaissance in Italy by virtue of its willingness to forgo classical idealization in favor of the faithful observation of nature. It is housed in its original location, the Cathedral of Saint Bavo in Ghent, Belgium. It has had a turbulent history, surviving the 16th-century iconoclastic riots, the French Revolution, changing tastes which led to its dissemination, and most recently Nazi looting. When World War II ended it was recovered in a salt mine, and the story of its restoration drew considerable interest from the general public and greatly advanced the discipline of the scientific study of paintings. No less turbulent was the history of the interpretation of this work. Since an inscription states that Hubert van Eyck maior quo nemo repertus (greater than anyone) started the altarpiece, but that Jan van Eyck - calling himself arte secundus (second best in the art) - finished it identifies it as a collaborative effort of Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert. The question of who painted what, or "Jan or Hubert?" has become a mythical one among art historians. Some even question the validity of the inscription, and thus Hubert van Eyck's involvement. In the 1930's, Emil Renders even argued that "Hubert van Eyck" was a complete fiction invented by Ghent humanists in the 16th century. More recently, Lotte Brand Philip (1971) has proposed that the Ghent Altarpiece's inscription has been misread, and that Hubert was (in Latin) the "fictor", not the "pictor", of the work. She interprets this as meaning that Jan van Eyck painted the entire altarpiece, while his brother Hubert created its sculptural framework.

The Ghent Altarpiece (Wings Open): 1432

The most famous work of Jan van Eyck is a huge altarpiece with many scenes in the city of Ghent. It is said to have been begun by Jan's elder brother Hubert, of whom little is known, and was completed by Jan in 1432. In the past, art historians, for various reasons, have sometimes cast doubt on the existence of Hubert Van Eyck. Today, however, no one still seriously claims that the elder brother of Jan, Lambert and Margareta Van Eyck never existed. He was born at Maaseik, in Limburg, though the date of his birth is unknown. The name Hubert itself, which was not common in Ghent, may well indicate his foreign origin. A few facts can be gleaned from his tombstone, which is now in the Lapidary Museum in St Bavo's Abbey. An inscription engraved on a copper plate which has since disappeared but which was once affixed to the stone, recorded 18 September 1426 as the date of his death. However, the most crucial piece of information to have come down to us is the quatrain inscribed on the frame of the Adoration of the Lamb, the Van Eyck brothers' most celebrated work. The verse was placed there when the altarpiece was installed on 6 May 1432. It states that the polyptych was begun by Pictor Hubertus Eyck, and finished by his brother Jan, at the request of Jodocus Vijd, deputy burgomaster of Ghent, warden of the church of St John, and of his wife, Elisabeth Borluut, who commissioned it.
An additional argument for the existence of Hubert is provided by a stylistic analysis of the painting, in which the work of two different hands can be clearly discerned. The overall conception of the altarpiece is certainly the work of Hubert, along with the execution of certain parts, such as the panels in the lower tier. Here, the manner is archaic, and reflects the continuing dominance of the international style that was practiced by Broederlam. The composition is typically unoriginal: the landscape is still conceived as a distant background, with which the figures at the front have no organic relation, an effect that is reinforced by the bird's eye point of view.
This polyptych is mystical, not to say esoteric, in intention, and is imbued throughout with both spiritual and intellectual signification. When opened, it represents the communion of saints, which is "the new heaven and the new earth", in the words of the Revelation of St John. Thus the central panel of the lower tier portrays the saints symbolizing the eight Beatitudes gathered round the altar where the sacrifice of the Lamb is taking place, at the centre of the heavenly garden which has sprung from His blood.
To left and right in the foreground are two processions facing one another. One of these is made up of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, and the other of figures from the New Testament. Some of them are kneeling, barefoot. Behind them is assembled the hierarchy of the Church - popes, deacons and bishops, wearing sumptuous jewelry and clothes in the bright red of martyrdom. In the background are two further groups, facing each other as if they had just emerged from the surrounding shrubbery. These are, on one side, the Confessors of the Faith, tightly packed together and almost all dressed in blue; and on the other side, the Virgin Martyrs, holding out palm fronds and wearing in their hair crowns of flowers of a kind traditionally worn by young girls at certain holy ceremonies. In the middle of the panel, around the altar where the Lamb spills forth his blood, angels kneel, holding the emblems of His Passion. Grace is symbolized by a radiant dove hovering in the sky, and eternal life is represented by a fountain in the foreground. A paradisiacal landscape runs across all five lower panels, uniting them in a single composition. It is strewn with plants from different countries and flowers of different seasons. The central panel is vibrant with green, while those to the sides are more arid and rocky. The horizon sits high in the frame and is closed off by groves of trees, behind which clusters of fairy-tale buildings can be made out, representing the heavenly Jerusalem.
The community of saints also extends onto the side panels. Magnificently arrayed horsemen, representing the Soldiers of Christ, are followed by the Just Judges. Opposite them are the Holy Hermits who have renounced the world, and the Pilgrim Saints, who were favorite figures of identification throughout the Middle Ages. They are led by a giant of a man, Saint Christopher. Many later commentators have suggested that his great height would have reminded the contemporary viewer of Jodocus Vijd's brother, also called Christopher. In the middle of the upper tier is God Almighty, the Word, essence and origin of the universe. He is dressed in red and is crowned with a magnificent tiara. On his left is Mary and on his right, St John the Baptist. These central figures are surrounded by angels who are singing or playing instruments. At the far right and left of the composition respectively are the figures of Adam and Eve. They were painted by Jan Van Eyck, and are set into trompe-l'oeil niches. Light and shadow play delicately over their forms which stand out as though they had been sculpted in the round.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adam, Cain and Abel: 1425-29

At the far left of the composition is the figure of Adam, set into a trompe-l'oeil niche. At the top, the scene of Cain and Abel is represented in grisaille.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adam (Detail): 1425-29

There is a passionate interest in facial expression and in character, an instance of this is the difference in treatment between the supernatural figures (God the Father and the Virgin) and those of Adam and Eve who appear as figures from another world, physically as well as spiritually.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Offering of Abel and Cain: 1425-29

The scene at top of the niche containing the figure of Adam depicts in grisaille the Offering of Abel and Cain. The scene prefigures both the sacrifice of Christ and the Eucharist.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Virgin Mary: 1426-29

On the panel left to God the Virgin is depicted.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Virgin Mary (Detail): 1426-29

The detail is superb in quality but the minute handling of jewels, crowns, brocades, never overwhelms the grasp of the structure of the whole figure.

The Ghent Altarpiece - God Almighty: 1426-27

In the middle of the upper tier is God Almighty, the Word, essence and origin of the universe. He is dressed in red and is crowned with a magnificent tiara.

The Ghent Altarpiece - God Almighty (Detail): 1426-27

The is God Almighty dressed in red and is crowned with a magnificent tiara. The detail is superb in quality but the minute handling of jewels, crowns, brocades, never overwhelms the grasp of the structure of the whole figure.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Saint John the Baptist: 1425-29

On the panel right to God is Saint John the Baptist.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Saint John the Baptist (Detail): 1425-29

Detail of Saint John the Baptist

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Killing of Abel: 1425-29

The scene at top of the niche containing the figure of Eve depicts in grisaille the Killing of Abel. The scene is an allusion to the death of Christ.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Eve and The Killing of Abel: 1425-29

At the far right of the composition is the figure of Eve, set into a trompe-l'oeil niche. At the top, the scene of the Killing of Abel is represented in grisaille.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Eve (Detail): 1425-29

There is a passionate interest in facial expression and in character, an instance of this is the difference in treatment between the supernatural figures (God the Father and the Virgin) and those of Adam and Eve who appear as figures from another world, physically as well as spiritually.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Singing Angels: 1427-29

The two panels depicting the angels playing music and singing are the most famous details of the altar-piece. Although it has been proposed that they were originally designed to be parts of an organ housing, they clearly fit into the iconographic concept.
Connected with the trio of God the Father, surrounded by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist, these wingless angels belong to the "heavenly domain", and they not only sing the praises of the Lord but also invoke the music of the spheres. At the same time, their presence is connected to the events depicted in the lower part of the panels: the use of identical sky background proves this.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Singing Angels (Detail): 1427-29

The twelfth-Century Theory concerning the mysticism of the five musical notes (Charlier de Gerson, Collectorium Super Magnificat) was well known in the fifteenth century, too, (it was republished in 1488, in Strasbourg), and its influence on the singing angels of van Eyck is probable. Their strikingly vivid facial expressions were variously explained by scholars. The proposition that the angels' "grimaces" express the pitch of their tones, in accordance with the contemporary practice of singing in four parts, seems daring. Ervin Panofsky, the outstanding scholar of iconography and of early Netherlands painting, first called attention to the mysterious role of the number five. According to him, the mimicry of the angels expresses their feelings, specifically the five major emotions reflecting the five major attributes of the Lord:
Gaudentia: joy on account of the Lord's greatness (Magnificus)
Spes: hope for the Lord's generosity (Largus)
Pietàs: devout love toward the Lord's graciousness (Pius)
Timor: fear of the Lord's justness (Iustus)
Dolor: grief, sadness, and repentance before the Lord's mercifulness (Miserator)

The Ghent Altarpiece - Singing Angels (Detail): 1427-29

In the upper part of the polyptych there are two pictures depicting angels singing and playing music. Their ornamental clothes, painted with painstaking detail, and their natural appearance increase the power of this tremendous vision. Such a realistic rendering of the angelic choir means that in the fifteenth century there was a close proximity between popular view and actual liturgical practice in the Netherlands, which played a leading role in the musical life of the period.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Singing Angels (Detail): 1427-29

The Book of Revelation mentions that when angels and all creatures sang the praises of the Lamb of God, twenty-four elders bowed down before him (Revelation 5: 11-14). The twenty-four elders wearing white robes and gold crowns who take part in the Apocalypse are not present in this picture, but it is conceivable that the panel of the musical angels makes some hidden reference to them. The use of twenty-four strings instead of twenty-five on the harp may be interpreted in this manner. The other instruments also differ from those used in the period: the organ has twenty-one pipes instead of the usual fifteen, or three full octaves, which may be taken to symbolize the Holy Trinity, while the viol has five strings, not four or six, and this is in accord with the mysticism of numerology relating to the number five.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Soldiers of Christ: 1427-30

The community of saints also extends onto the side panels. Magnificently arrayed horsemen, representing the Soldiers of Christ, are followed by the Just Judges.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Just Judges: 1427-30

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb: 1425 29

The central panel of the lower tier portrays the saints symbolizing the eight Beatitudes gathered round the altar where the sacrifice of the Lamb is taking place, at the center of the heavenly garden which has sprung from His blood.
To left and right, in the foreground, are two processions facing one another. One of these is made up of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, and the other of figures from the New Testament. Some of them are kneeling, barefoot. Behind them is assembled the hierarchy of the Church - popes, deacons and bishops, wearing sumptuous jewelry and clothes in the bright red of martyrdom.
In the background are two further groups, facing each other as if they had just emerged from the surrounding shrubbery. These are, on one side, the Confessors of the Faith, tightly packed together and almost all dressed in blue; and on the other side, the Virgin Martyrs, holding out palm fronds and wearing in their hair crowns of flowers of a kind traditionally worn by young girls at certain holy ceremonies.
In the middle of the panel, around the altar where the Lamb spills forth his blood, angels kneel, holding the emblems of His Passion. Grace is symbolized by a radiant dove hovering in the sky, and eternal life is represented by a fountain in the foreground. A paradisiacal landscape runs across all five lower panels, uniting them in a single composition. It is strewn with plants from different countries and flowers of different seasons. The central panel is vibrant with green, while those to the sides are more arid and rocky. The horizon sits high in the frame and is closed off by groves of trees, behind which clusters of fairy-tale buildings can be made out, representing the heavenly Jerusalem.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb (Detail): 1425 29

To left and right, in the foreground, are two processions facing one another. One of these is made up of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, and the other of figures from the New Testament. Some of them are kneeling, barefoot.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb (Detail): 1425 29

To left and right, in the foreground, are two processions facing one another. That to the left is made up of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb (Detail): 1425 29

To left and right, in the foreground, are two processions facing one another. That to the right is made up of figures from the New Testament. Some of them are kneeling, barefoot. Behind them is assembled the hierarchy of the Church - popes, deacons and bishops, wearing sumptuous jewelry and clothes in the bright red of martyrdom.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb (Detail): 1425 29

In the centre, the sacrificial Lamb stands upon the altar, and the chalice catches the blood pouring from its breast. The instruments of the Passion are upheld by little angels kneeling round the altar, and in the foreground of the flowery hillside the pilgrims approach, both towards the altar and the Fountain of Life which gushes in the foreground.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb (Detail): 1425 29

In the background are two further groups, facing each other as if they had just emerged from the surrounding shrubbery. These are, on the left side, the Confessors of the Faith, tightly packed together and almost all dressed in blue.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb (Detail): 1425 29

In the background are two further groups, facing each other as if they had just emerged from the surrounding shrubbery. These are, on right side, the Virgin Martyrs, holding out palm fronds and wearing in their hair crowns of flowers of a kind traditionally worn by young girls at certain holy ceremonies.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Holy Hermits: 1427-30

Opposite to the Soldiers of Christ and the Just Judges are the Holy Hermits who have renounced the world.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Holy Pilgrims: 1427-30

The Pilgrim Saints, who were favourite figures of identification throughout the Middle Ages, are led by a giant of a man, Saint Christopher. Many later commentators have suggested that his great height would have reminded the contemporary viewer of Jodocus Vijd's brother, also called Christopher.

The Ghent Altarpiece (Wings Closed): 1432

The realism of the figures of Adam and Eve at the far right and left on the open altarpiece struck contemporary viewers forcefully, and this style continues on the outside of the panels when the altarpiece is closed. The external decoration shows the Erithraean and Cumaean Sibyls, Prophets Zacharias and Micheas, the figures of Jodocus Vyd, the donor, and his wife Isabelle Borluut kneeling on either side of two grisaille (painted in gray to resemble statuary) representations of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist, and the Annunciation with the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. The angel and the Virgin of the Annunciation are separated by two small panels, one with the representation of an arched window looking out upon a city square, and the other with a wash basin and ewer set into a niche and a white towel hanging from a rail beside it.
A striking feature is the disparity in the scale of the various figures: no less than four changes of scale exist of the outside of the wings. There are also disparities in approach; some parts are almost prosaically factual, others almost visionary in approach. Three orders of reality are present: a narrative representation of a sacred subject (the Annunciation), two highly factual donor portraits and two simulated sculptures. Yet there is a strong attempt to impose a uniform framework on these disparate elements through the governing factor of the light, which falls uniformly in all the panels from the right, and also through the use in the upper panels of a beamed ceiling running through the whole scene, and, in the lower panels, of the same cusped trefoil arches to frame the figures.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Prophet Zacharias and the Angel of the Annunciation: 1432

When closed, the altarpiece has on the outside of its wings a large Annunciation, the angel Gabriel and the Virgin being separated by two small panels. Above the angel, in the lunette, Prophet Zacharias is depicted. The Latin name of the Prophet is indicated on the frame.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Erythraean Sibyl: 1432

The Erythraean and Cumaean Sibyls are related to the Annunciation through their prophecies. The text on the floating ribbon refers to Virgil. The Latin name of the Sibyl is indicated on the frame.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Cumaean Sibyl: 1432

The Ghent Altarpiece - Prophet Micheas and Mary of the Annunciation: 1432

When closed, the altarpiece has on the outside of its wings a large Annunciation, the angel Gabriel and the Virgin being separated by two small panels. Above the angel, in the lunette, Prophet Micheas is depicted. The Latin name of the Prophet is indicated on the frame.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Arched Window with a View: 1432

The angel and the Virgin of the Annunciation are separated by two small panels, one with the representation of an arched window looking out upon a city square, and the other with a wash basin and ewer set into a niche and a white towel hanging from a rail beside it.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Niche with Wash Basin: 1432

The angel and the Virgin of the Annunciation are separated by two small panels, one with the representation of an arched window looking out upon a city square, and the other with a wash basin and ewer set into a niche and a white towel hanging from a rail beside it.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Donor: 1432

The lower section of the closed altarpiece has the portraits of donors and their patron saints. The portraits of Jodocus Vyd and his wife have the same closely detailed approach to living form that Jan van Eyck shows in his other known portraits like the Man in a Red Turban or the Leal Souvenir (both in the National Gallery, London).
Jodocus Vyd, deputy burgomaster of Ghent, warden of the church of Saint John, was one of the richest businessmen of his age in Flanders.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Donor (Detail): 1432

The detail shows Jodocus Vyd, deputy burgomaster of Ghent, the donor of the Ghent Altarpiece.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Saint John the Baptist: 1432

At the time of the creation of the Ghent Altarpiece, Saint John the Baptist was the patron saint of the cathedral. There are no indications that the grisaille is a copy of an existing sculpture, although it is assumed that Jan van Eyck copied in this way the sculptures of other artists in some cases.

The Ghent Altarpiece - Saint John the Evangelist: 1432

According to an old tradition, Saint John the Evangelist was the author of the Apocalypse, from which the central theme of the altarpiece, the Adoration of the Lamb originates.

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Donor's Wife: 1432

The Ghent Altarpiece - The Donor's Wife (Detail): 1432

The detail shows Isabelle Borluut, wife of Jodocus Vyd, the donor of the Ghent Altarpiece.

Exceptionally for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his paintings on their frames, then considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together). However, in the celebrated Arnolfini Portrait (London, National Gallery), van Eyck inscribed on the (pictorial) back wall above the convex mirror "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic 1434" (Jan van Eyck was here, 1434). The painting is one of the most frequently analyzed by art historians, but in recent years a number of popular interpretations have been questioned. This is probably not a painted marriage certificate, or the record of a betrothal, as originally suggested by Erwin Panofsky. The woman is probably also not pregnant, as the hand-gesture of lifting the dress recurs in contemporary renditions of virgin saints (including Jan van Eyck's own Dresden Triptych and a workshop piece, the Frick Madonna).

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife: 1434

"The Arnolfini Marriage" is a name that has been given to this untitled double portrait by Jan van Eyck, now in the National Gallery, London. It is one of the greatest celebrations of human mutuality. Like Rembrandt's "Jewish Bride", this painting reveals to us the inner meaning of a true marriage.
Giovanni Arnolfini, a prosperous Italian banker who had settled in Bruges, and his wife Giovanna Cenami, stand side by side in the bridal chamber, facing towards the viewer. The husband is holding out his wife's hand.
Despite the restricted space, the painter has contrived to surround them with a host of symbols. To the left, the oranges placed on the low table and the windowsill are a reminder of an original innocence, of an age before sin. Unless, that is, they are not in fact oranges but apples (it is difficult to be certain), in which case they would represent the temptation of knowledge and the Fall. Above the couple's heads, the candle that has been left burning in broad daylight on one of the branches of an ornate copper chandelier can be interpreted as the nuptial flame, or as the eye of God. The small dog in the foreground is an emblem of fidelity and love. Meanwhile, the marriage bed with its bright red curtains evokes the physical act of love which, according to Christian doctrine, is an essential part of the perfect union of man and wife.
Although all these different elements are highly charged with meaning, they are of secondary importance compared to the mirror, the focal point of the whole composition. It has often been noted that two tiny figures can be seen reflected in it, their image captured as they cross the threshold of the room. They are the painter himself and a young man, doubtless arriving to act as witnesses to the marriage. The essential point, however, is the fact that the convex mirror is able to absorb and reflect in a single image both the floor and the ceiling of the room, as well as the sky and the garden outside, both of which are otherwise barely visible through the side window. The mirror thus acts as a sort of hole in the texture of space. It sucks the entire visual world into itself, transforming it into a representation.
The cubic space in which the Arnolfinis stand is itself a pre-figuration of the techniques of perspective which were still to come. Van Eyck practiced perspective on a purely heuristic basis, unaware of the laws by which it was governed. In this picture, he uses the mirror precisely in order to explode the limits of the space to which his technique gives him access as soon as it threatens to limit him.

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini: ca 1435

The exact datation of the painting is debated. However, it was executed about the same time as the famous marriage portrait in the National Gallery, London. Here, Arnolfini's turban is in the Italian style, wrapped around a faceted wooden core like those so often drawn by Piero della Francesca and Uccello as a favorite perspectival exercise.

Other works include two remarkable commemorative panels, the Madonna with Chancellor Rolin (Paris, Louvre), and the Madonna of Canon Georg van der Paele (Bruges, Groeninge Museum), some other religious paintings, notably the Annunciation (Washington, National Gallery of Art), and a number of exceptionally haunting portraits, including that of his wife, Margareta (Bruges, Groeningemuseum), and what is believed to be his self-portrait,Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), often mis-titled Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban, as in fact he wears a chaperon. Many more works are disputed, or believed to be by his assistants or followers.

The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin: 1435

The donator of this painting is Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of Burgundy and Brabant. He established the Hôtel-Dieu hospital at Beaune where Rogier van der Weyden executed the famous 'Last Judgment'.
Nicolas Rolin, who commissioned this work, was a man with a forceful personality. Despite his humble background, he was highly intelligent and eventually rose to hold the highest offices of State. For over forty years he was Philip the Good's right-hand man, and one of the principal architects of the monarch's success. Van Eyck painted him when he was already in his sixties. His face, though marked by the heavy responsibilities he has had to bear, still fascinates the viewer with the sense of energy and will-power which it projects. Rolin is wearing a gold brocade jacket trimmed with mink. He kneels at prayer on the left of the composition. His gaze is pensive, looking as though he has just raised his eyes from his book of hours.
On the right is the seated figure of the Virgin. Wrapped in a voluminous red robe, she is presenting the Infant Jesus to the chancellor while a hovering angel holds a magnificent crown above her head. The figures have been brought together in the loggia of an Italianate palace. The three arches through which the space opens out behind them seem rather large in relation to their immediate surroundings. They give first onto a small garden with lilies and roses symbolizing Mary's virtues. Slightly farther back are two small figures, one standing at an oblique angle to the viewer and the other with his back to us. Near them are two peacocks, symbols of immortality, but perhaps also of the pride to which such a powerful man as Chancellor Rolin might well succumb.
The most surprising feature in this splendid picture is without doubt the townscape that stretches out beyond the loggia. The crenellated battlements indicate that the palace is in fact a fortress, built on the edge of an escarpment. Below, a broad meandering river with an island in its midst flows through the heart of a city. The humbler areas of the town lie to the left, behind Chancellor Rolin. On the right, behind the Virgin, are the wealthy quarters, with a profusion of buildings, dominated by an imposing Gothic church. Countless tiny figures are flocking towards this part of town, across the bridge and through the roads and squares. Meanwhile on the river, boats are arriving and putting into shore. It is as if all mankind, united by faith, were travelling in pilgrimage towards this city and its cathedral. In the distance, the horizon is closed off by snow-capped mountains under a pinky-yellow sky. In the opinion of Charles de Tolnay, this painting represents a comprehensive vision of the entire universe.

The Madonna with Canon van der Paele: 1436

Here the visual and thematic elements are similar to those of the Chancellor Rolin Madonna. Van Eyck is concerned with showing the presence of a vision and therefore of illustrating the reality of God in our world. Just as Nicolas Rolin is shown in his palace, in the midst of an identifiable environment that seems to make his vision of the Virgin all the more real, so Canon van der Paele is shown in the choir of the collegiate church of Saint Donatian in Bruges, where he is being presented to the Virgin by Saint George and Saint Donatian. Hans Belting is of the opinion that this picture once hung in the choir of the now destroyed church. This would mean that the depicted location mirrored the real location. Van der Paele would therefore have been able to see himself in the very place of his depicted vision and so "prove" to the world at large the reality of his divine experience.
The exquisite brocades, furs, and silks are shown in an extraordinarily lifelike and brilliant way, a way that confirms their reality, their tangibility. On the other hand, the reliefs and sculptures on the capitals in the background and on the Virgin's throne all allude to Christ's salvation of humanity. The depictions on the throne of Adam and Eve, Cain killing Abel, and Samson fighting the lion, together with the depiction on the capitals of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, create an Old Testament framework which allows the observer to reflect on the mercy of God, who sent his son, Christ the Redeemer, into the world. Redemption from sin (Cain killing his brother) is possible only through the power of faith (Samson overpowering the lion). The goodness and grace of God "at the moment of truth" (Abraham sacrificing Isaac) serves as proof of the redeeming power and presence of servants of God both celestial (St. George) and mortal (Canon van der Paele).
This is how van der Paele might have expressed the message of the painting-that paradise was at hand-a message confirmed by its being set in a very real but also sacred context. The Virgin is pictured holding a nosegay and her son a parrot - unmistakable echoes of the Garden of Eden - and both figures have turned to face the meditating canon.

In the most substantial early source on him, a 1454 biography by the Genoese humanist Bartolomeo Facio (De viris illustribus), Jan van Eyck was named "the leading painter" of his day. Facio places him among the best artists of the early 15th century, along with Rogier van der Weyden, Gentile da Fabriano, and Pisanello. It is particularly interesting that Facio shows as much enthusiasm for Netherlandish painters as he does for Italian painters. This text also sheds light on aspects of Jan van Eyck's production now lost, citing a bathing scene as well as a world map which van Eyck painted for Philip the Good. Facio also recorded that van Eyck was a learned man, and that he was versed in the classics, particularly the writings of Pliny the Elder about painting. This is supported by records of an inscription from Ovid's Ars Amatoria, which was on the now-lost original frame of the Arnolfini Double Portrait, and by the many Latin inscriptions on his paintings, using the Roman alphabet, then reserved for educated men. Jan van Eyck likely had some knowledge of Latin for his many missions abroad on behalf of the Duke.
Jan van Eyck died in Bruges in 1441 and was buried there in the Church of Saint Donatian (destroyed during the French Revolution).

Various Works of Jan van Eyck

Diptych: 1420-25

The two panels represent the Crucifixion and the Last Judgment, respectively. It is assumed that they were the side wings of a triptych, the central panel of which is lost. However, the picture's devotional character is uneffected by whether it was conceived originally as a diptych or a triptych.

Crucifixion: 1420-25

The Crucifixion and the Last Judgment (in the Metropolitan Museum) were the side wings of a triptych, the central panel of which is lost. The attribution to Jan van Eyck is debated.
These two small pictures conjure up a veritable microcosm. Every detail is observed with equal interest - from the alpine landscape to the slender body of Christ and the emotions of the various figures. The raised lettering on the original frames forms quotations from Isaiah on the Crucifixion and from Revelations and Deuteronomy on the Last Judgment.

Last Judgment: 1420-25

Madonna in the Church: ca 1425

The asymmetric composition, unusual at Van Eyck, is explained by the fact that this panel was the left wing of a diptych. The other wing is lost but contemporary copies prove the correctness of this assumption.

Madonna in the Church (Detail): ca 1425

Stigmatization of Saint Francis: 1428-29

It is assumed that Jan van Eyck executed this small panel in Spain in 1428-29. There is a later (ca. 1450) copy of the painting in the Galleria Sabauda, Torino.

Portrait of a Goldsmith
(Man with Ring): ca 1430

The Dürer signature at the upper left corner is not genuine.

Portrait of Cardinal Niccolo Albergati: 1431-32

Niccolò Albergati, a Carthusian monk in Bologna, became the Bishop of Bologna in 1417 and Cardinal in 1426. In 1431 Pope Martin V sent him to Burgundy to mediate between the English King and the French King and Duke of Burgundy. Jan van Eyck was commissioned by Philip le Bon to paint the portrait of the Cardinal. During the short stay of the Cardinal van Eyck made only a few sketches, he executed the portrait later.

Portrait of a Young Man (Tymotheos): 1432

The portrait is a three-quarters view of a man of about thirty years, turned slightly to the left before a homogeneously dark background. He sports a fashionable green head-dress from which a scarf hangs down onto his right shoulder. He is also wearing a red coat with a thin fur collar. His left arm is folded behind the parapet, his left hand obscured by his right, which is holding a scroll of paper.
The identity of the sitter has been the subject of considerable speculation. It would seem logical to expect the strange name which someone appears to have lettered onto the stone in Greek (Tymotheos) to provide a clue. In fact, the name did not occur in the Netherlands before the Reformation which led experts to see it as a scholarly humanist metonym to link the sitter with an eminent figure in Classical antiquity.
An inscription, not unlike an epitaph, and yet evidently referring to a living person is chiseled on the parapet: LEAL SOUVENIR (loyal remembrance).

Madonna with the Child Reading: 1433

The inscription on the wall top left is: "COMPLETU(m) AN(n)O D(omini) M CCCC XXXIIJ P(er) JOH(ann)EM DE EYC BRVGIS". There is a motto on the right: "ALS IXH XAN" (als ich kan, i.e. "as I can"). The authorship of Van Eyck is debated.

Portrait of a Man with Carnation: ca 1435

The unknown sitter bears the medal of the Order of Saint Anthony, established by Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Hainaut. The authorship of Jan van Eyck is debated.

The Annunciation: ca 1435

This Flemish master revolutionized European art by perfecting the technique of oil painting. His meticulous detail, jewel-like transparent color, and subtle tonal gradations have never been surpassed. Full of symbolism, elements in this late Gothic church interior symbolize the virginity of Mary, in the white lilies; the transmission of the Holy Spirit, in the white dove; and the relation between the Old and New Testaments, in the use of pavement stones with Old Testament scenes which prefigure the coming of Christ, such as David killing Goliath and Samson destroying the Philistine temple.

Portrait of Jan de Leeuw: 1436

Jan de Leeuw (born in 1401) was an active member of the Goldsmith Guild in Bruges.

Madonna Enthroned: ca 1436

The painting is referred to as the Lucca Madonna since it was in the collection of Carlo Luigi, Prince of Luca.

Annunciation: ca 1436

The panel depicting in grisaille the Angel of the Annunciation is one of the wings of a small portable diptych. The other wing representing the Virgin Annunciate is in the same museum.

Annunciation: ca 1436

Small Triptych: ca 1437

The central picture of the small winged altarpiece represents the Virgin and Child in a church, the left wing depicts Saint Michael with a donator, while the right wing Saint Catherine. When closed, on the outer side of the wings the Annunciation can be seen (in grisaille).

Small Triptych: ca 1437

Small Triptych (Central Panel): ca 1437

The central picture of the small winged altarpiece represents the Virgin and Child in a church. The triptych has its original frame.

Small Triptych (Outer Panels): ca 1437

The outer panels represent in grisaille the Angel and the Virgin of the Annunciation.

Madonna and Child at the Fountain: 1439

The small panel is signed and dated on a marbled frame: 'IOH(ann)ES DE EYCK ME FECIT C(om)PLEVIT AN(n)O 1439'. However, the donation is debated. The painting is assumed by some scholars to be earlier (ca. 1425-30) and the 1439 is only the date of completion and framing.
The attention which Van Eyck focused upon the tender embrace of mother and child is characteristic of late-medieval devotion. The artist depicts the paradisiacal garden and other symbols of the Virgin such as the fountain, the rose and the iris. Angels hold up a gorgeous brocade cloth behind the mother and child as a symbol of honor. The symbolism of the colors used in the painting serves to heighten its spiritual message.

Portrait of Christ: 1440

This is a copy from the last quarter of the 16th century of a lost painting by Jan van Eyck. Several copies of this painting are extant.

Saint Jerome: 1442

The painting is attributed to Jan van Eyck. The date of 1442 appears on the painting, showing that it was completed by workshop associates in just a year after Van Eyck's death. It can be supposed from the letter on the table, that Saint Jerome represents a portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati.

Saint Barbara: 1437

Jan van Eyck is generally viewed as the leading artistic figure of the 15th century Netherlands. He was interested in Antiquity, had good geographical knowledge, was well-versed in literature and possessed great technical ingenuity.
Saint Barbara is surprising because of its graphical qualities and its unusual technique, and the fact that it is not an ordinary painting. Numerous experts have tried to determine whether it is in fact an unfinished painting, a grisaille, or a finished drawing. The drawing is executed on a smooth, yellow-brown tinted ground with a stylus, and is finished off with a fine paintbrush. The work has a marbled frame bearing an inscription which tells us the name of the artist and the date of execution, namely 1437. Van Eyck depicts Saint Barbara with her prayer-book and palm, seated before a late-gothic tower which is in the process of construction.

Source: Web Gallery of Art

Source: Art Renewal Center

This page is the work of Senex Magister
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