Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck
Portrait of a Man in a Turban (actually a chaperon), possibly a self-portrait, 1433.
Birth name	Jan van Eyck/Johannes van Eyck
Born	c. 1395 probably Maaseik, Burgundian Netherlands
Died	before 9 July 1441 (aged 45–46) Bruges, Burgundian Netherlands
Nationality	Flemish
Field	Painting
Movement	Renaissance
Works	About 25 paintings have been attributed
Patrons	John III, Duke of Bavaria, Philip the Good
Influenced by	Hubert van Eyck

Jan van Eyck (or Johannes de Eyck) (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɑn vɑn ˈɛjk]) (before c. 1395 – before 9 July 1441) was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and is generally considered one of the most significant Northern European painters of the 15th century. The few surviving records indicate that van Eyck was born around 1390, most likely in Maaseik. What is known of his early life has been pieced together from a mixture of bare historical record and the attribution, often contested, specific works. One of his most famous works today at least partially attributed to him, the Ghent Altarpiece, was begun ca 1420 (probably by elder brother Hubert van Eyck) and completed in 1432, while it is known that in 1422 he was employed by John of Bavaria-Straubing, at the time ruler of both Holland a Zeeburg. van Eyck by this time had already amassed a workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace in The Hague. He moved to Bruges sometime around 1425, and by 1426 had come to the attention of Philip the Good. By 1427 he was under payment of Philip's court, and a senior member of the Tournai guild, attending banquets with the similarly esteemed Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden. Over the following decade van Eyck's reputation and technical ability grew, mostly from his innovative approaches towards the handling and manipulating of oil paint. His revolutionary approach to oil was such that a myth, perpetuated by Giorgio Vasari, arose that Jan van Eyck had invented oil painting.

It is known that van Eyck was considered a revolutionary master across northern Europe within his lifetime; his designs and methods were heavily copied and reproduced by younger artist, while his famous motto, one of the first and still most distinctive signatures in art history, "ALC IXH XAN" ("AS I CAN") first appeared in 1433 on Portrait of a Man in a Turban, which is most likely a self portrait and indicative of his emerging self confidence at the time. The years between 1434 and 1436 are generally considered his high point when he produced works including his Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, Lucca Madonna and Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele. That year he married the much younger Margaret. Records from 1437 on suggest that he was held in high esteem by the upper ranks of Burgundian nobility while also accepting many foreign commissions. He died young in July 1441, leaving behind many unfinished works to be completed by workshop journeymen; works that are nevertheless today considered major examples of Early Netherlandish painting. His local and international reputation was aided by his ties to the then political and cultural influence of the Burgundian court.

Jan van Eyck has often been linked as brother to painter and peer Hubert van Eyck, because both have been thought to originate from the same town, Maaseik in Limburg (Belgium). Another brother, Lambert van Eyck is mentioned in Burgundian court documents, and there is a conjecture that he too was a painter, and that he may have overseen the closing of Jan van Eyck's Bruges workshop. Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France, Barthélemy van Eyck, is presumed to be a relation.

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The date of van Eyck's birth is not known. The first existing record of van Eyck is from the court of John of Bavaria at The Hague, where payments were made to Jan van Eyck between 1422 and 1424 as court painter, with the court rank of valet de chambre, and first one and then two assistants. This suggests a date of birth of 1395 at the latest. His apparent age in his probable self-portrait (right) suggests to most scholars an earlier date than 1395. Miniatures in the Turin-Milan Hours, if indeed they are by van Eyck, are likely to be the only surviving works from this period, and most of these were destroyed by fire in 1904, though photographs exist.

Artwork in the life

Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele, 1434, one of the most well known and renowned examples of Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting.

Following the death of John of Bavaria, in 1425 van Eyck entered the service of the powerful and influential Valois prince, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Van Eyck resided in Lille for a year and then moved to Bruges, where he lived until his death in 1441. A number of documents published in the twentieth century record his activities in Philip's service. He was sent on several missions on behalf of the Duke, and worked on several projects which likely entailed more than painting. With the exception of two portraits of Isabella of Portugal, which van Eyck painted at Philip's behest as a member of a 1428-9 delegation to seek her hand, the precise nature of these works is obscure (see this copy [1] ).

As a painter and "valet de chambre" to the Duke, Jan van Eyck was exceptionally well paid. His annual salary was quite high when he was first engaged, but it doubled twice in the first few years, and was often supplemented by special bonuses. His salary alone makes Jan van Eyck an exceptional figure among early Netherlandish painters, since most of them depended on individual commissions for their livelihoods. An indication that Van Eyck's art and person were held in extraordinarily high regard is a document from 1435 in which the Duke scolded his treasurers for not paying the painter his salary, arguing that Van Eyck would leave and that he would nowhere be able to find his equal in his "art and science." The Duke also served as godfather to one of Van Eyck's children, supported his widow upon the painter's death, and years later helped one of his daughters with the funds required to enter a convent.

Style

Annunciation, 1434-1436, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Jan van Eyck produced paintings for private clients in addition to his work at the court. Foremost among these is the Ghent Altarpiece painted for Jodocus Vijdts and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. Started sometime before 1426 and completed, at least partially, by 1432, this polyptych has been seen to represent "the final conquest of reality in the North", differing from the great works of the Early Renaissance in Italy by virtue of its willingness to forgo classical idealization in favor of the faithful observation of nature.

Signature

Exceptionally for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his paintings on their frames, then considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together).

Reputation and legacy

The Ghent Altarpiece: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (interior view), painted in 1432.

In the earliest significant source on van Eyck, a 1454 biography in Genoese humanist Bartolomeo Facio's De viris illustribus, Jan van Eyck is named "the leading painter" of his day. Facio places him among the best artists of the early 15th century, along with Rogier van der Weyden, Gentile da Fabriano, and Pisanello. It is particularly interesting that Facio shows as much enthusiasm for Netherlandish painters as he does for Italian painters. This text sheds light on aspects of Jan van Eyck's production now lost, citing a bathing scene owned by a prominent Italian, but mistakenly attributing to van Eyck a world map painted by another. Facio also records that van Eyck was a learned man, and that he was versed in the classics, particularly Pliny the Elder's work on painting. This is supported by records of an inscription from Ovid's Ars Amatoria, which was on the now-lost original frame of the Arnolfini Double Portrait, and by the many Latin inscriptions in van Eyck paintings, using the Roman alphabet, then reserved for educated men. Jan van Eyck likely had some knowledge of Latin for his many missions abroad on behalf of the Duke.

Jan van Eyck died in Bruges in 1441 and was buried in the Church of St Donatian (destroyed during the French Revolution).

Bibliography

• Ainsworth, Maryan M. and Keith Christiansen, eds. From Van Eyck to Bruegel Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.
• Bol, L.J. Jan Van Eyck. reprint: Barnes & Noble Art Series
• Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eyck. London: Taschen, 2008. ISBN 3-8228-5687-8
• Borchert, Till-Holger ed. Age of Van Eyck: The Mediterranean World and Early Netherlandish Painting. Exh. cat. Groeningemuseum, Stedelijke Musea Brugge. Bruges: Luidon, 2002
• Campbell, Lorne. The Fifteenth-Century Netherlandish Paintings. London, National Gallery. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-300-07701-7
• Foister, Susan, Sue Jones and Delphine Cool, eds. Investigating Jan van Eyck. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000.
• Friedländer, Max J. Early Netherlandish Painting. Translated by Heinz Norden. Leiden: Praeger, 1967-76. AISN B0006BQGOW
• Graham, Jenny. Inventing van Eyck: The remaking of an artist for the modern age. Oxford and New York: Berg, 2007
• Harbison, Craig. "Jan van Eyck: The Play of Realism". Reaktion Books, 1997. ISBN 0-9484-6279-5
• Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004
• Pächt, Otto. Van Eyck and the Founders of Early Netherlandish Painting. New York: Harvey Miller, 2000
• Panofsky, Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting. London: Harper Collins, 1971. ISBN 0-06-430002-1
• Smith, Jeffrey. The Northern Renaissance (Art and Ideas). London: Phaidon Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7148-3867-5
• Weiss, Roberto. Jan van Eyck and the Italians. Italian Studies XI (1956) 1-15

External links

• A Closer Look at Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child with Chancellor Rolin (Louvre museum)
• Centre for the Study of Fifteenth-Century Painting in the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège List of works
• Jan van Eyck Gallery at MuseumSyndicate
• Flemish Art Collection: Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele, a masterpiece by van Eyck
• Closer to Van Eyck (The Ghent Altarpiece in 100 billion pixels)