Jan Van Eyck, Portrait of a Man, 1433

Born sometime before 1390 presumably in Maaseik, in present-day Belgium, Jan van Eyck lived during the Hundred Years' War. The threat of the pandemic of the Black Death, that had swept away one third of Europe's population, loomed over that era as well. 

Nevertheless, the painter belonged to a privileged environment, that shielded him from the impact of these events. His aristocratic descent, the erudition that he gained from it, combined with his extraordinary talent, gave van Eyck a self-confidence that was demonstrated in fact that he signed some of his works, something that was highly unusual at the time. The distinctive motto that accompanied his signature, 'AIC IXH XAN' had the form of a pun with a double impact. First of all, it is written in byzantine greek characters, stating, thus, his classical education, and, secondly, it corresponds to 'As I can' or 'As Eyck can'. Moreover, the subtle irony of the declaration 'I did what I can', on the frame of a masterpiece, conveys a humorous personality. In the Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele of 1434-36 and the Arnolfini Portrait of 1434, the artist used another daring device to assert his identity. He included an actual self-portrait, in the form of a reflection on Saint George's armour and on the mirror, respectively. He, thus, closes the eye to the attentive viewer that discovers it, as well as demonstrates an artistic tour de force.

Van Eyck had the privilege to work successively for two monarchs. He was, thus, free from the restrictions of the painters' guilds. Furthermore, he enjoyed freedom to take commissions from other patrons as well. His enormous talent combined with the freedom to do as he pleased with it resulted in a revolutionary oeuvre that changed the fate of painting forever. He painted portraits of members of the growing middle class of the Netherlands, that consisted mainly of merchants. He supported, thus, the dynamic new order of society, but, at the same time, initiated a new dynamic order himself; the new, elevated status of painting and of the artist. Painting was not an important art at the time; at least, it was not as important as sculpture.

Van Eyck's depictions were highly realistic. That effect was achieved by the combination of his superb talent with the properties of his medium, oil painting, which he perfected. His use of the oil painting technique was so sophisticated, that he was mistakenly considered its inventor. He particularly insisted in realistic, naturalistic even, depiction, as is demonstrated by the amount of descriptive detail that is present in his pictures. The depicted textures are rendered in an unparalleled manner, each indicated by its corresponding reflection of light. As far as his sitters are concerned, however, the naturalistic depiction brought an additional quality to his art aside from illusionism. They appeared unidealized, present. Jan van Eyck's sitters were portrayed for who they actually were. He even made a note on the back of a study for the Portrait of the Cardinal Niccolo Albergati that the stubble of the beard should be grey.

Real appearances found their way intact into van Eyck's paintings, creating a sense that everything could be depicted by the painter. Nevertheless, it is still a subversion and a peculiarity that in his pictures the ordinary coexists with the supernatural. In The Virgin and Child with Chancellor Nicolas Rolin of around 1435, for example, one sees the sitter sharing an illusionistic architectural space with the Virgin Mary, the Divine Infant and an angel. Similarly, in The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele, the Holy Mother and Child as well as Saint Donatian, Saint George and the deceased Joris van der Paele are pictured coexisting not in a heavenly realm out of this world, but in a thoroughly convincing architectural setting, decorated with columns bearing intricately carved capitals, an elaborate canopy and a lavish oriental carpet, themselves dressed not in an ethereal manner, but in believable, worldly dress, which is rendered in a highly tangible manner. In the peculiar case of the Arnolfini Portrait, the sitter, who presumably is Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini, is, as suggested by Margaret L. Koster, possibly portrayed with his wife Costanza Trenta that had died in 1433. Actual individuals side by side with supernatural beings, holy figures paired with ordinary settings and trappings of accentuated materiality, the living with the dead. Jan van Eyck seems to have been highly practical, but deeply mystical at the same time. He boldly created captivating images.