Arnolfini Wedding
Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Wedding, 1434
This famous
painting by Jan Van Eyck is thought to be one of the most famous oil paintings
to date. This is the first piece he created after perfecting oil paints. This
oil painting was done on an oak panel and was relatively small compared to the
large scale Cathedrals Van Eyck painted later in his life. The paintings is
speculated to be of Giovanni di Nicolao
Arnolfini and his wife. Although it simply looks to be a representation of
strong artistry and high quality paint, the painting holds strong religious
symbolism.
This
painting supposed to show a wedding but it is placed in their bedroom not in a
traditional church setting. There is a single candle in the painting which is
meant to signify the presence of Jesus in their lives and vows. The wife
appears pregnant, which although looks odd, is meant to signify fertility and
her intention to have children. Her dress is green which is the color that
symbolizes fertility. The rise in the front of the dress hits toward these
assumptions as well. Some historians believe this painting may have served as a
marriage license in the form of a painting.
Van
Eyck used many layers of glaze paint to create the effect of realism. He wanted
to add to the intensity and pull away from abstract perspectives. He used his
alteration of oil painted to make the piece appear three dimensional. There is such a great amount of detail that
there is even a realistic dog in between them, which is placed to symbolize
loyalty.
Jan Van Eyck
Jan Van Eyck was a famous painter of the Roman Empire.
His claim to fame is perfecting the art of oil painting. He worked with the
painting and mixing in other things such as beeswax to give the paint more
depth. Because of these techniques his paintings such as Arnolfini
Wedding and many others are far less dark than previous oil paintings. The
paintings also hold up better over time without deteriorating. Van Eyck was
known as a naturalist and his paintings commonly held religious meaning. He was
a realist and worked to exemplify his paintings through work that showed a
broadened viewpoint of the world.
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| Jan Van Eyck, Adoration of the Lamb |
Another one
of his pieces, Adoration of the Lamb,
also called Ghent Altarpiece is an
alter painted on both sides and is placed in a Cathedral. His art work was very
powerful to the religious community and many people debated over what his work
meant. Many argued that the Adoration of the Lamb was
placing the sheep on the alter as to signify
the hierarchy of the church. Many question that in his view as a
realist, this painting may have altering implications on the power of the human
capability. This piece was almost destroyed my rioting Calvinists during the
reformation, but despite the adversity the piece holds even today.
Reinvention of Rome by the
Catholic Church
All of Jan Van Eyck’s pieces hold strong religious implications,
specifically to the Catholic Church. The church was a strong influence in Rome
and Although Van Eyck was from the Netherlands, their influence spread across
Europe. Because of their influence, he has created pieces of religious
symbolism that hold still in cathedrals to this day. The Catholic church held
not only religious but political power and because of this, religious art was
highly sought out. The church also had large power over what art contained,
leading to a biased towards Catholic themes. They wanted to focus on the
essentials of Christianity which draws light on paintings such as Arnolfini
Wedding because it shows the religious ties of
traditional marriage in the presence of God.
My Perspective
One thing I found particularly interesting about the piece
was that the mirror adds a great deal of depth to the piece. The wife is
looking at her husband with a level head rather than looking down. To me this
shows she feels equal to him rather than beneath him. She also is larger than
him by the proportions of the drawings. I also notice her overpowering colors
compared to him, and he the fact that her hand is on top of his. To me this
shows me that she is a much stronger power in this painting
