Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441) was the great master of Early Netherlandish painting, whose command of the oil technique achieved almost microscopic detail. Works like the Arnolfini Portrait still astonish with their jewel-like precision and hidden symbolism.

  • The Arnolfini Portrait

    ByDominik Szobak

    Hidden inside one of the most studied paintings in Western art history, a tiny convex mirror reflects two figures standing in a doorway — one of whom may be the artist himself, silently witnessing the scene he painted. The Arnolfini Portrait, completed in 1434, is packed with so many layers of meaning, technical wizardry, and…