PILGRIMSFrom Van Eycks canvas, we depart,To once again embark on the road.Each of us driven by a love for God,An all-consuming desire.Bypassing Mecca, Lourdes, and Rome,We journey to spiritual realms – Each one carries their body along:It must be taken int ❯❯❯
ALTARSA cranes flight – not a battle cry – Melds into the autumn glow.An altar shines over all the earth,Uniting all signs and symbols.To reduce all altars to one! Our lives are thickly woven into the air.For the joy and for the spirit of momentous events, ❯❯❯
The owner of the painting felt it would be more appropriate this way. Flemish Primitives were not popular until the end of the 20th century, while Dürer was well-known by everyone. ❯❯❯
The Netherlands. 15th century. Late Middle Ages. The idea of sinfulness still permeates the thinking, culture, and art of that era. And here is the Ghent Altarpiece by the hand of Master Jan van Eyck (according to an inscription on the frame, it was begun by Hubert van Eyck and completed by Jan in 1432). Everything here is alive, everything is filled with beauty and profound meaning. For the first time, the inhabitants of the glorious city of Ghent saw that earthly, everyday life could be just as beautiful and morally pure as heaven. It was as if a veil had been lifted from their eyes. Van Eyck became the founder of the Northern Renaissance. He was a philosopher, he looked at the world with wide-open eyes.
Madonna Chancellor Rolin. Within the canonical theme of adoration of the Madonna – a new beginning that amazed contemporaries. Pantheism is the new religion he professes. There is nothing insignificant in the world; even in small things lies a particle of God. In the background of the painting, one can see a landscape. A river. Houses and temples are lost in the haze. Gardens are green. Only a person of the Renaissance could look at the surrounding world like this. The master builds, albeit still naively, perspective; radiant colors convey the feeling of earthly solidity as harmoniously as never before.
1434. The artist paints the Portrait of Arnolfinis Couple. At this time, the concept of a portrait, rather than an exact representation of the subject, is innovative. Family, marriage: this was the basis of bourgeois life. But the work does not end there. In a round spherical mirror on the far wall of the room, the participants in the scene are reflected. In addition to the spouses, witnesses to the wedding are visible. This is a second, implicit plane of action. The artist observes with the eagerness of a naturalist how space doubles and distorts itself. Is it not like this, as if Jan van Eyck asks, that the family world is only a part of something else, larger, and that, in turn, is part of the cosmic space? The language of symbols was familiar to people of that time: a dog at the feet of the couple symbolizes marital fidelity, and the green dress of the bride is a symbol of spring and love.
1439. The master has only two years left to live. The last dated work is a portrait of his wife. The artist is just beginning to explore the most complex art form – portraying a human personality. He is constrained by tradition, prejudices, religious superstitions, and his own indecision. And yet, his brush conveys to us the image of a living woman. The artist seemed to capture some indefinable movement of his friends soul. And he stopped there.
Jan van Eyck worked before the great masters of the Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Dürer – and with his joyful, colorful, life-affirming art, he largely anticipated their quests. His work is connected to the Middle Ages, but at the same time denies it, laying the foundation for a new, Renaissance painting. Like Dante, Jan van Eyck stands on the threshold of two eras, but he can be called more the first great artist of the new era than the last artist of the Middle Ages.
Canons exist to be broken, and while medieval painters traditionally used a matte paint, let the tradition be forgotten. Let those who choose to depict people in everyday settings, without any religious connection, do so. The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck challenged established traditions and, using a new oil painting technique, created a unique portrait for 15th-century European art: the Arnolfini couple.
At first glance, its just a domestic scene: ordinary people in a modest setting of a bourgeois house, but why are their poses so formal and unmoving? Why are their faces so serious? Why is the mans right hand frozen in what looks like a vow gesture? What seems to be an ordinary genre scene turns out to be a puzzle with many unknowns. To solve it, lets start with some background.
In 1420, Giovanni Arnolfini, a merchant from the Medici trading house, arrived in Bruges. At the court of Duke Philip the Good, he met the artist Jan van Eyck. It is possible that Van Eyck painted this portrait as a wedding gift to Arnolfini and his bride, Johanna.
What do we see in the painting? At that moment, a formal marriage ceremony was probably taking place in the Arnolfini house. Van Eyck was invited to witness this important event. Perhaps for the first time in history, a painted canvas served as a legal document. But heres the paradox: there are two people in the room, but four in the mirror. Whats going on? The explanation is found in the inscription on the wall: Jan van Eyck was here. The artist and someone else are reflected in the mirror because they are watching what is happening, and we seem to be standing next to them at the threshold of the Arnolfini house.
To achieve a complete illusion of reality, Van Eyck wanted to use soft color transitions, but traditional tempera, a matte paint based on egg white, did not allow this. So, the painter used walnut oil as a solvent and achieved an amazing result. Oil paints were applied in thin, transparent layers, allowing for meticulous detail work. And if you apply the paint with the tip of a fine brush, it creates a shimmering effect. By discovering the secret of oil paints, Van Eyck was able to create miracles.
In the portrait of the Arnolfini couple, like in a magic mirror, a real moment is captured, and every object has a symbolic meaning. On the chandelier, despite the clear day, a candle is burning – a symbol of Gods all-seeing eye. The dog represents fidelity. The green color of the dress symbolizes spring and love. Rosaries speak of piety, slippers of comfort, a broom of order in the house and spiritual purity. The bed is a place of birth and death, as well as a marital bed. A carved figurine may symbolize Saint Margaret or Saint Martha, both patrons of pregnant women. An apple reminds us of the fall. Exotic oranges, for Europe at that time, suggest that sinful desires are purified in Christian marriage. So, the scene unfolding in the Arnolfini house is now perfectly clear, and the symbols are completely understandable.
Nevertheless, we are not entirely certain that Van Eyck depicted a wedding ceremony. There are other versions. Since the man is offering his left hand to the woman, instead of his right, it can be assumed that these are not newlyweds, but spouses, and this is not a wedding, but a family portrait. There is another version. The painter could have portrayed himself and his wife under the name Arnolfini, because in the features of the female face, one can see some resemblance to Margaret Van Eyck. There is also a bolder assumption. The artist did not portray a married couple, but a palm reader and a pregnant woman. By her open hand, he predicts the fate of the future child. This version may seem most convincing. We clearly see that the woman is expecting a baby, and we risk making another mistake. It turns out that the bulging belly is a monstrous medieval fashion; even Eve in the Ghent Altarpiece has the same S-shaped figure. It was believed that a large belly indicated prosperity and wealth. So, who is depicted in the painting known as the Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple? To this day, this question remains open.
Undeniably, one of the pioneers of oil painting technique, the Flemish artist Jan van Eyck, used new paints to create an amazing bright world, a graceful and accurate reflection of reality.
![Grisaille Diptych, with Saint John the Baptist and the Virgin and Child [front], Jan van Eyck](http://j5.galerix.ru/_UNK/1265835004/4192797580.jpg)
COMMENTS: 17 Ответы
Oh my god, this is amazing!
Jan van Eyck is a genius of the Early Renaissance!
Thank you very much. Another beautiful copy of the original van Eyck painting is located in Melbourne at the National Gallery.
The Netherlands. 15th century. Late Middle Ages. The idea of sinfulness still permeates the thinking, culture, and art of that era. And here is the Ghent Altarpiece by the hand of Master Jan van Eyck (according to an inscription on the frame, it was begun by Hubert van Eyck and completed by Jan in 1432). Everything here is alive, everything is filled with beauty and profound meaning. For the first time, the inhabitants of the glorious city of Ghent saw that earthly, everyday life could be just as beautiful and morally pure as heaven. It was as if a veil had been lifted from their eyes. Van Eyck became the founder of the Northern Renaissance. He was a philosopher, he looked at the world with wide-open eyes.
Madonna Chancellor Rolin. Within the canonical theme of adoration of the Madonna – a new beginning that amazed contemporaries. Pantheism is the new religion he professes. There is nothing insignificant in the world; even in small things lies a particle of God. In the background of the painting, one can see a landscape. A river. Houses and temples are lost in the haze. Gardens are green. Only a person of the Renaissance could look at the surrounding world like this. The master builds, albeit still naively, perspective; radiant colors convey the feeling of earthly solidity as harmoniously as never before.
1434. The artist paints the Portrait of Arnolfinis Couple. At this time, the concept of a portrait, rather than an exact representation of the subject, is innovative. Family, marriage: this was the basis of bourgeois life. But the work does not end there. In a round spherical mirror on the far wall of the room, the participants in the scene are reflected. In addition to the spouses, witnesses to the wedding are visible. This is a second, implicit plane of action. The artist observes with the eagerness of a naturalist how space doubles and distorts itself. Is it not like this, as if Jan van Eyck asks, that the family world is only a part of something else, larger, and that, in turn, is part of the cosmic space? The language of symbols was familiar to people of that time: a dog at the feet of the couple symbolizes marital fidelity, and the green dress of the bride is a symbol of spring and love.
1439. The master has only two years left to live. The last dated work is a portrait of his wife. The artist is just beginning to explore the most complex art form – portraying a human personality. He is constrained by tradition, prejudices, religious superstitions, and his own indecision. And yet, his brush conveys to us the image of a living woman. The artist seemed to capture some indefinable movement of his friends soul. And he stopped there.
Jan van Eyck worked before the great masters of the Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Dürer – and with his joyful, colorful, life-affirming art, he largely anticipated their quests. His work is connected to the Middle Ages, but at the same time denies it, laying the foundation for a new, Renaissance painting. Like Dante, Jan van Eyck stands on the threshold of two eras, but he can be called more the first great artist of the new era than the last artist of the Middle Ages.
Canons exist to be broken, and while medieval painters traditionally used a matte paint, let the tradition be forgotten. Let those who choose to depict people in everyday settings, without any religious connection, do so. The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck challenged established traditions and, using a new oil painting technique, created a unique portrait for 15th-century European art: the Arnolfini couple.
At first glance, its just a domestic scene: ordinary people in a modest setting of a bourgeois house, but why are their poses so formal and unmoving? Why are their faces so serious? Why is the mans right hand frozen in what looks like a vow gesture? What seems to be an ordinary genre scene turns out to be a puzzle with many unknowns. To solve it, lets start with some background.
In 1420, Giovanni Arnolfini, a merchant from the Medici trading house, arrived in Bruges. At the court of Duke Philip the Good, he met the artist Jan van Eyck. It is possible that Van Eyck painted this portrait as a wedding gift to Arnolfini and his bride, Johanna.
What do we see in the painting? At that moment, a formal marriage ceremony was probably taking place in the Arnolfini house. Van Eyck was invited to witness this important event. Perhaps for the first time in history, a painted canvas served as a legal document. But heres the paradox: there are two people in the room, but four in the mirror. Whats going on? The explanation is found in the inscription on the wall: Jan van Eyck was here. The artist and someone else are reflected in the mirror because they are watching what is happening, and we seem to be standing next to them at the threshold of the Arnolfini house.
To achieve a complete illusion of reality, Van Eyck wanted to use soft color transitions, but traditional tempera, a matte paint based on egg white, did not allow this. So, the painter used walnut oil as a solvent and achieved an amazing result. Oil paints were applied in thin, transparent layers, allowing for meticulous detail work. And if you apply the paint with the tip of a fine brush, it creates a shimmering effect. By discovering the secret of oil paints, Van Eyck was able to create miracles.
In the portrait of the Arnolfini couple, like in a magic mirror, a real moment is captured, and every object has a symbolic meaning. On the chandelier, despite the clear day, a candle is burning – a symbol of Gods all-seeing eye. The dog represents fidelity. The green color of the dress symbolizes spring and love. Rosaries speak of piety, slippers of comfort, a broom of order in the house and spiritual purity. The bed is a place of birth and death, as well as a marital bed. A carved figurine may symbolize Saint Margaret or Saint Martha, both patrons of pregnant women. An apple reminds us of the fall. Exotic oranges, for Europe at that time, suggest that sinful desires are purified in Christian marriage. So, the scene unfolding in the Arnolfini house is now perfectly clear, and the symbols are completely understandable.
Nevertheless, we are not entirely certain that Van Eyck depicted a wedding ceremony. There are other versions. Since the man is offering his left hand to the woman, instead of his right, it can be assumed that these are not newlyweds, but spouses, and this is not a wedding, but a family portrait. There is another version. The painter could have portrayed himself and his wife under the name Arnolfini, because in the features of the female face, one can see some resemblance to Margaret Van Eyck. There is also a bolder assumption. The artist did not portray a married couple, but a palm reader and a pregnant woman. By her open hand, he predicts the fate of the future child. This version may seem most convincing. We clearly see that the woman is expecting a baby, and we risk making another mistake. It turns out that the bulging belly is a monstrous medieval fashion; even Eve in the Ghent Altarpiece has the same S-shaped figure. It was believed that a large belly indicated prosperity and wealth. So, who is depicted in the painting known as the Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple? To this day, this question remains open.
Undeniably, one of the pioneers of oil painting technique, the Flemish artist Jan van Eyck, used new paints to create an amazing bright world, a graceful and accurate reflection of reality.
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