If you face with a question about Belgian peculiarities and you are reluctant to talk about neither waffles nor beer, there is a sure option − heritage of Jan van Eyck, a Flemish painter of genius.
Jan van Eyck is an outstanding figure in terms of the whole history of art. When the artists in the beginning of the XV century barely started proceeding towards comprehension of how to make their works lifelike, he already managed to approach an utterly realistic and vivid manner.
Arnolfini Portrait
Van Eyck was the first who captured a real moment from a regular person’s life. It is his world-wide famous Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (1434), which still delights connoisseurs of painting. After hundreds of years, when in people’s consciousness only biblical motifs were worth fixing in art, he was bold enough to commemorate on canvas a precious day for that Italian couple.
How marvellous can it be, when someone eventually decided to depict such simple things as home slippers and apples on a window-sill in the piece of art. Van Eyck was also one of the first painters who could build up a space in his paintings conveying the feeling of a distance. There is one more astonishing detail in the Arnolfini portrait: on the back wall we can see a mirror, in which the painter, as a witness of the scene, reflects himself. And it is in the XV century!
Ghent altarpiece
Another great work of not only Jan Van Eyck, but also of his brother Hubert (who is believed to begin it) is a huge altarpiece (1432), which is kept in the Church of St. Bavo in Ghent. It is a polyptych consisting of twenty panels, which reflect various biblical stories including an Annunciation and the Adoration of the Holy Lamb.
The most prominent depictions of this altarpiece are the figures of Adam and Eve, though. It was the first time these biblical characters appeared as real people with all their shortcomings. We see no ideal images, but persons. There is a remarkable detail in the aspect of Adam − his feet. He is making a step and it seems to viewers that he is literally walking out of the surface of the panel.
There are many other wonderful findings, that could be discovered about Jan van Eyck’s works. He had a huge impact on the following generations of painters and managed to change the idea of art, its aims and methods. In his honour the JVE Academie was founded in Maastricht.
Where to see the canvas of Jan van Eyck:
Ghent altarpiece (1432) − St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent
Man in a Turban (1433) − National Gallery, London
Arnolfini Portrait (1434) − National Gallery, London
Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (1433-34) − Louvre, Paris
Madonna of Canon van der Paele (1436) − Groeningen Museum, Bruges
Portrait of Margareta van Eyck (1439) − Groeningen Museum, Bruges
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