Biography
Date of Birth: Jan Van Eyck was born approximately in the year 1390.
Place of Birth: According to a 16th century tradition, his supposed place of birth was in Maaseik which is near Maastricht in the province of Limburg.
Mostly Spent Life in: Bruges as he was the peintre et varlet de chambre to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
Education/ Training: The fact that Eyck had any education/training is not proven to be true but is thought of to be true. It is predicted that he had education/training since he already had apprentices when he arrived at the Hague. More questionable evidence of his edcuation is that he signed his artworks.
Life/Lifestyle: Eyck lived a lavish life since he was paid enormous sums for his unique paintings.
Occupation: Painter
Three of the Many Works Produced:
Patrons: John, Count of Bavaria-Holland. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
The Work
Date of Creation: 1434
Where Can We See This Today?: National Gallery Museum in London, United Kingdom.
What was so significant about this piece?: Complex symbolism and amazing detail.
Were there any new techniques (literary, artistic, etc.) used in the creation of this piece? If so, what were they?: Oil paint on wood.
Why did I find this piece so interesting?: This piece looked very lovely and I felt as if there was no other emotion except for love. There was no harmful/bad feelings from this art. It was also very visually pleasing.
“Isms”/Renaissance ideals that are closely linked to Eyck:
Naturalism: The way Eyck paints the light on the people makes the painting seem more natural. If a person was standing in front of the couple, they would see the light on their face just like how Eyck painted it.
Humanism: This piece of artwork only focuses on the couple and their love for each other.