Arnolfini Portrait

• Key Facts


  Date: 1434

  Artist: Jan Van Eyck

  Medium and support: Oil on oak
• Many interpretations:


  • Could be depicting the pre or post matrimony of Giovanni Arnolfini and Jeanne Cenami. - Panofsky
  • It is thought that the couple are already married because of the woman's headdress. A non-married woman would have her hair down, according to Margaret Carroll.
  • Koster suggests that the hand-holding signifies the husband still clinging onto his deceased wife’s (Constanza Trenta) hand as her life slips away. The gargoyle next to her hand also signifies the couple’s doom.
• How does the placement of the two figures suggests conventional 15th century views of marriage and gender roles?

  • the woman stands near the bed and well into the room, symbolic of her role as the caretaker of the house and solidifying her in a domestic role, whereas Giovanni stands near the open window, symbolic of his role in the outside world.
  • . Arnolfini looks directly out at the viewer; his wife gazes obediently at her husband. His hand is vertically raised, representing his commanding position of authority, whilst she has her hand in a lower, horizontal, more submissive pose.
• Counter argument for conforming to gender roles:

  Her gaze at her husband can also show her equality to him because she is not looking down at the floor as lower-class women would. They are part of the Burgundian court life and in that system she is his equal, not his lowly subordinate.
• Form:


  • Full length double portrait
  • geometric orthogonal perspective
• Materials and processes:


  Van Eyck used the technique of applying several layers of thin translucent glazes to create a painting with an intensity of both tone and colour. Further to produce a brilliance and a glow that would be unachievable if done via tempera
• Techniques


  Use of the alla prima technique heightens the illusion of three-dimensional forms
• The small medallions set into the frame of the convex mirror at the back of the room show tiny scenes from the Passion of Christ


  Furthering the Memorial theory, all the scenes on the wife's side are of Christ's death and resurrection. Those on the husband's side concern Christ's life. The mirror itself may represent the eye of God observing the vows of the wedding. Mother Mary = piety, further suggested by the rosary beads hanging
• Dog - symbolism


  The little dog may symbolize fidelity (fido), loyalty, or alternatively lust, signifying the couple's desire to have a child. Unlike the couple, he looks out to meet the gaze of the viewer
• Jan Van Eycks signature in the background:


  • Marks his eternal presence
  • Latin equivalent to 'Jan Van Eyck was here' - change of artistic status and serves as a testimony to the matrimonial act.
  • "This self-publicising 'graffito' coupled with what appears to be the artists reflected image in the mirror marks a more general move towards the recognition of artists in their own right." - Huntsman
• The singular lit candle on the brass chandelier 


  Lit candle in the daytime symbolises hope, showing life and death, presence of God?
• Style


  Northern Renaissance, illusionistic, high degree of verismilitude
• What does the 3/4 profile represent?


  Van Eyck's influence at signature style (shows physical volume)
• Dress


  Abundance of heavy green fabric gathers at her waist, cloth becomes an emblem of her merchant husbands affluence. Green - vitality and peace, opposite to red on colour wheel heightens a sense of drama and intrigue.
• Blue on womans dress

  Links to Mother Mary
• Face of woman


  Porcelain, pallid skin, cherubic, suggests high status, aristocracy
• Fruit on tree outside + oranges on the window

  The cherries present on the tree outside the window may symbolize love. The oranges which lie on the window sill and chest may symbolize the purity and innocence that reigned in the Garden of Eden before the Fall of Man.
• Light


  Bathed in natural light
• The room’s restrained luxury is equalled by the careful sartorial splendour of the couple. Their clothes are expensive and fashionable, but not flashy.