Jan van Eyck

Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), 1433. National Gallery, London

Years of life:	1390 – 1441
Artist's Teachers:	Robert Campin (?)
Art Movement:	Northern Renaissance
Painting School:	Flemish School

Genre:	Portrait , Religious
Country:	Netherlands
Century:	XV

Van Eyck’s origins are dark and mysterious, only known work is from the 1430s onward. As an artist and diplomat, he served at the court of Count John of Bavaria in The Hague from 1422-1425, and later at the court of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Van Eyck was the founder of oil painting.

He was the first painter to portray the merchant class and bourgeoisie. His work reflects their priorities, such as having their portraits painted; taking themselves seriously (as donors of altarpieces, for example); art as the imitation of nature; art as evidence of painstaking work and of craftsmanship. He had a brilliant oil-painting technique, which he was the first to perfect—luminous, glowing colors, and minute detail.

Van Eyck’s three-quarter pose of face brought a new realism to portraiture. He initiated a new method in which the artist does not seek to express the social affiliation of the model or to embody her connections with the sacred world, but focuses on the appearance of the person.

“Van Eyck’s eye was at one and the same time a microscope and a telescope.”

Erwin Panofsky

Jan van Eyck’s major works are The Annunciation, c. 1425–30 (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art); Ghent Altarpiece (The Adoration of the Lamb), 1432 (Ghent: St. Bavo’s Cathedral); The Arnolfini Marriage; 1434 (London: National Gallery).

References:

Robert Cumming. Art: complete encyclopedia. – 512 p. – Moscow: Astrel, 2005.

Artworks:

Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy

1435

Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy • 1435
Portrait of Margareta van Eyck

1439

Portrait of Margareta van Eyck • 1439
Portrait of a Man (Self-portrait?)

1433

Portrait of a Man (Self-portrait?) • 1433
The Arnolfini Portrait (Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini (?) and his Wife)

1434

The Arnolfini Portrait (Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini (?) and his Wife) • 1434
Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini

1435

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini • 1435
The Virgin of chancellor Rolin.

1434-1435

Alternative title: Chancellor Rolin praying before the Virgin, known as The Virgin of chancellor Rolin

The Virgin of chancellor Rolin. • 1434-1435
The Ghent Altarpiece

1432

The Ghent Altarpiece • 1432
Portrait of Jan de Leeuw

1436

Portrait of Jan de Leeuw • 1436
The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment, diptych

1430

The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment, diptych • 1430
The Ghent Altarpiece (open view), polyptych with 12 panels.

1432

Also called The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Clients: Joducus and Isabelle Vyd, originally. for the side chapel dedicated to John the Baptist in St. Bavo in Ghent, convertible altar, created in collaboration with Jan van Eyck

The Ghent Altarpiece (open view), polyptych with 12 panels. • 1432
Portrait of Cardinal Nicholaes Albergati

1435

Portrait of Cardinal Nicholaes Albergati • 1435
Portrait of Cardinal Nicholaes Albergati

1435

Portrait of Cardinal Nicholaes Albergati • 1435
Triptych of Mary and Child, St. Michael, and the Catherine

1437

Triptych of Mary and Child, St. Michael, and the Catherine • 1437
The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment, diptych

1430

The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment, diptych • 1430
Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame (Turin-Milan prayer book), Scene: The birth of John the Baptist

1422-1424

Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame (Turin-Milan prayer book), Scene: The birth of John the Baptist • 1422-1424
Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele

1434 / 1436

Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele • 1434 / 1436
Saint Jerome in His Study

1442

Saint Jerome in His Study • 1442
The Madonna in the Church

1438

The Madonna in the Church • 1438
Madonna at the Fountain

1439

Madonna at the Fountain • 1439
Saint Barbara of Nicomedia

1437

Saint Barbara of Nicomedia • 1437
Ghent Altarpiece (right): Music-making Angels

1430 – 1432

Ghent Altarpiece (right): Music-making Angels • 1430 – 1432
Ghent Altarpiece (left): Angels Singing

1430 – 1432

Ghent Altarpiece (left): Angels Singing • 1430 – 1432
The Ghent Altarpiece Open: Eva

1430 – 1432

The Ghent Altarpiece Open: Eva • 1430 – 1432
The Ghent Altarpiece Open: Adam

1430 – 1432

The Ghent Altarpiece Open: Adam • 1430 – 1432
Portrait of a Man (Timoteos)

1432

Portrait of a Man (Timoteos) • 1432
Woman at Her Toilet

1500 (?)

Possible copy after a lost original

Woman at Her Toilet • 1500 (?)
Virgin and Child, with Saints and Donor

between 1441 and 1443

Virgin and Child, with Saints and Donor • between 1441 and 1443
The Three Marys at the Tomb

1425-1435

Fragment, possibly from an altarpiece to the Virgin Mary by Hubert van Eyck or Jan van Eyck

The Three Marys at the Tomb • 1425-1435
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata

between 1430 and 1432

Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata • between 1430 and 1432
Portrait of a Man with a Blue Chaperon

1430s

Portrait of a Man with a Blue Chaperon • 1430s
The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment

1440 – 1441

The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment • 1440 – 1441
Lucca Madonna

1435

Lucca Madonna • 1435
The Annunciation Diptych

between 1433 and 1435

The Annunciation Diptych • between 1433 and 1435
The Annunciation

between 1434 and 1436

The Annunciation • between 1434 and 1436
Ghent Altarpiece, Altar of the Mystical Lamb, Main Panel, Scene: The Adoration of the Mystical Lamb

before 1426-1432

Ghent Altarpiece, Altar of the Mystical Lamb, Main Panel, Scene: The Adoration of the Mystical Lamb • before 1426-1432