Arnolfini Portrait By Jan Van Eyck

Jan van Eyck was able to create a naturalism and religious feeling in his oil painting, which made him one of the most famous painters in fifteenth-century. The “Arnolfini Portrait” was painted in 1434 by van Eyck in the style of oil on panel. This piece has various interpretations because of the different objects and layout in the painting.
In this painting there are two main figures of a man and women. “Images represent a man and woman standing in a richly furnished room, equipped with a brass chandelier, a mirror, and a canopied bed” (Janson 483). There are identified as Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami (Arnolfini’s wife). There are also two male figures reflected in the mirror in-between the two main figures in the foreground. Many scholars believe, “that one of these men must by Jan van Eyck himself, perhaps the figure wearing the red headdress. The combination of the signature, with its flourishes and phrasing, and image of the men in the mirror suggests to some that Jan is acting as a witness to whatever is occurring in the room” (Janson 484). Some historians have doubts that the women in the painting isn’t Giovanni Arnolfini because that
The joining of hands and raised right hand could represent solemn oath. According to the textbook, “Scholars have argued that this panel represents either the wedding or the engagement of the couple shown, either of which would have required a legal and financial contract between their two families” (Janson 484). Understanding what is happening in this image isn’t clear. Another interpretation according to the book, “ The woman’s gesture to lift her heavy gown may suggest her wishing for children, and the bed behind her may suggest the consummation of the marriage” (Janson 485). This could also be a portrait of his wife that died during birth that he wanted her painted like St. Margaret, who was a pregnant women who prayed for a safe