Jan Van Eyck Research Paper

The Father of Dutch Renaissance

Jan Van Eyck, a Dutch painter, was born circa 1390AD. Born into the noble class of gentry, Van Eyck acted as a diplomat for several different Flemish courts. Because of his position as a representative, Van Eyck traveled all throughout England and France and was cuturally influenced by these excursions. In addition, Van Eyck was not placed under the financial stress of many Renaissance artists because of his family’s wealth. Therefore, Van Eyck focused on incorporating hidden meaning and detail into his works, without having to worry about deadlines. Furthermore, he was one of the miniscule number of painters that experience success during their lifetime; he could afford to employ full time assistants to help him fully express his creative genius.

Throughout his life, Jan Van Eyck mastered the use of and redesigned oil paint. He accomplished this by intensely studying the minute details in landscape and common household items. Because of his renowned skill, Van Eyck was almost wrongly

credited for creating modern day oil paint. Van Eyck would create lifelike images by only using tiny delicate brushstrokes. Many times he would apply separate layers of paint in order to give the image a three dimensional effect. In doing so, his paintings have a distinct lifelike appearance, which separated them from common art and turned his creations into masterpieces.
In addition to the quality of his paintings, Van Eyck incorporated readily apparent and subtle symbolic items into his work.

The most well respected example of this is found in the Arnolfini Wedding. The subject of this portrait is Mr. Arnolfini and his wife. In the artwork, Mr. Arnolfini is holding his wife’s right hand with his left, symbolising a left handed marriage. Indicating that Mr. Arnolfini is of a higher social class than his bride to be. Also, to reinforce the scene of holy matrimony, their shoes are removed indicating a holy place, and a small pet dog is pictured, alluding to loyalty in marriage. Furthermore, the Arnolfini’s display deeply held Catholic views, portrayed by rosary beads in the corner, a chair depicting Saint Margaret and the dragon, and the mirror in the background revealing the story of the passion of the Christ. Jan Van Eyck, through his use of symbolism, narrated the lives of others in his

paintings.
A deeply religious man, Van Eyck created countless paintings of significant value to modern day artists and the Catholic Church. Usually, Van Eyck incorporated subtle religious beliefs into his portraits like the Arnolfini Wedding. Additionally, he created renowned pieces for churches, which include the Altar Piece of Ghent, the Three Marys of the Tomb, and the Madonna of Chancellor Robin. Each of these works incorporates Dutch ideology into the Biblical, religious scenes. Furthermore, Van Eyck would traditionally paint the persons paying for the completed work as background characters in his masterpieces. Van Eyck used his ability to manipulate oil paints to create Catholic paintings.
Unfortunately, Jan Van Eyck’s career ended when he passed away July 9, 1441, in the Netherlands. His innovative expression throughout his paintings demonstrated his unique, intellectual personality. In addition, Van Eyck’s exquisite work with oil paint permanently cements himself as the father of modern day oil paint. Furthermore, his religious paintings continue to have a profound effect on anyone who comes in contact with them. Van Eyck was the inspiration and the beginning of the Dutch Renaissance.