Portrait of Giovanni? Arnolfini and his Wife. The National Gallery, London. But take a second look or third or fourth , and a more intriguing image emerges.
The room in which the Arnolfinis pose is laden with images that signal wealth, have religious implications, or are just plain… odd. Like, Kardashian rich. And, frankly, if we want to continue the reality TV comparison, this painting is a carefully curated portrayal to signify wealth—much like the opulence we see depicted in Keeping Up with the Kardashians. How do we know this couple was wealthy? The chandelier, stained glass windows, intricately woven rug, sandals, fur-trimmed robes, mirror, dog, and oranges are all signifiers of incredible wealth in 15th century Belgium.
Many of these images also do double duty, indicating not only wealth but also conveying allusions to religious and fertility motifs. The chandelier has one lit candle, which represents the seeing eye of God; the mirror is decorated with scenes from the Passion of Christ; and an unblemished mirror is also a symbol of the piety of Mary, Mother of God. Why was the painting cleaned?
The cleaning of the painting. Restoring Margaret van Eyck. Panel and frame construction. Find out how they were assembled. The underdrawing. X-rays and pentimenti.
Margaret's red dress. Indeed, the lettering on the frame would me a direct message to his wife as a momento of this present. Van Eyck regularly left small notes on his flourished frames, a signature style rarely used by any other artists at this time. The signature also reveals that Margaret was 33 years of age at this time, making her around years younger than her husband, whose own birthdate has never been precisely agreed upon.
We only know that he was born somewhere between the years of to We have included a larger photograph of the painting which allows you to appreciate more of the detail to be found here. Margaret features the pale skin common in the Netherlands at this time, as well as a hairstyle found frequently within women of this day.
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