JAN Van Eyck

2/7/18

Jan Van Eyck (possibly active between 1390-1440 according to the existing record of his life) was a Netherlandish painter famous for his achievement of developing the Early Netherlandish painting as well as leading the Northern Renaissance. Living in Bruges, his works included early Gothic painting style and mainly focused on realism and naturalism, especially for some religious subjects, figures and symbols. He continued to work on oil painting with using religious symbols; his work had been copied and imitated but still remained great values, and he was also admired by most artists during Renaissance.

The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434.

The symbolism interpretation in this piece is endless; the hand Arnolfini used to hold his wife was left, indicating that the marriage might be "left-hand marriage" that means the marriage is unequal-in the left-hand marriage female is "obliged to forfeit all the usual rights of property and inheritence." Also the dog standing between the couple was considered to be a symbol of faithfulness-the dog was there to ensure the marriage's success.