Dr Kat and the Arnolfini Portrait

What happens when we attempt to read works of art in the same way we read textual sources? I think the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck (1434) is a great candidate to be submitted for analysis using such a technique...

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Images (from Wikimedia Commons, unless otherwise stated):

Jan van Eyck’s Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) (1433). Held by the National Gallery.

17th-century copy of Jan van Eyck’s portrait of Isabella of Portugal. Held by The National Archive of Torre do Tombo in Lisbon.

Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait (1434). Held by the National Gallery.

Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors (1533). Held by the National Gallery.

Jan van Eyck’s "Lucca Madonna" (c.1437). Held by the Städel Museum.


Additional resources:

[TheJennick]

My mom has been a professional seamstress for as long as i can remember( her side-job on top of teaching 1st grade) & in the mid-80's she had a art history grad student contact her to help this chick with her final project for her degree- they had to choose one of their favorite pieces of art to recreate & present w explanation of their interpretation of the piece. As you can probably guess, my mom actually worked w this gal for several months dissecting the green dress the woman is wearing in the Arnolfini portrait & making as close a copy as possible, using much guesswork & experimentation in the same way they did on the Amber Bouchard program-- the dress wound up costing quite a bit of money for the materials & mom's time spent in the research, pattern fabrication, production of the several layers involved in properly reproducing every component involved- from the underwear out! They worked for months, I remember her coming back after her presentation & receiving her final grade: of course she had the highest grade in her class!! I didn't know back then how important this project mom worked on really was, she did a fantastic job on it & I'm still extremely proud of her!!

[paninodimortadella]

Arnolfini was Italian, there are few old folk traditions in Italy about brooms still in place: giving a broom as a Christmas gift it’s a symbol of good luck and represents the goodbye to the past and welcoming of the new (regeneration); if hanged behind the door, it’s meant to keep the evil spirits away (protection).
I thought to do a little research to see where these traditions are coming from and I found few interesting information.
It symbolically used to represent “purification”, it was associated to women and fertility (even in the north of Europe) and their role in the household. In a marriage it was used to wish good luck and abundance.
It was also necessary to use them to wipe every corner of the house after somebody’s death to let the soul go.
There are other things I found but I don’t think they are particularly meaningful in this context.

[michaelmorris]

IF this is a posthumous portrait of the woman (a believable hypothesis, whether true or not) the guttered candle over the woman and the lit candle over the man would be perfectly understandable and wonderfully symbolic.

On a more mundane level, we discovered your channel only recently, and I shall be quite sorry when we've caught up and can only watch one new episode a week.

[JoRiver]

As I was looking at the image of this painting, I had this thought that it is both a memorial to his deceased wife and the metaphorical room wherein his memory of her resides.
A few things made me think this: The idealised interior (the physical materials and the implied presence of god), the warm clothing worn in the summer (if we play along with the notion that outside the door is the real world), something odd about the mirror - as though it somehow implies an alternate reality, and his shoes by the door which are very much of the material world and are soiled.

[ibidthefrog]

The book 'the girl in a green gown' about the portrait points out the husband is wearing the latest fashion while the wife is dressed in slightly old fashioned attire. Perhaps it is a memorial and it was what she wore for her wedding?

[eplhflq]

I would stare for hours at this painting in an art book we owned as a child. All the brilliant colors and fascinating folds in the fabric! Thank you for taking me back to some happy childhood memories. :)

[redforrori]

I've never even considered the "who" in this painting, because the incredible attention to detail captivates me so much. Just the reflection of the prayer beads on the wall as the light shines through them...not to mention everything else. Gobsmackingly, fantastically beautiful.

[YTMe]

I read the article...YES! 🤣🤣🤣 The recreation of the dress was fascinating also. What strikes me about the portrait is the expressions on the faces of the subjects. They seem to lend weight to the theory that it a memorial portrait to his late wife. The couple don't seem to be in the same realm. His gaze is straight forward and quite sad. Hers is downcast and seems far away, as if this world has little pull on her. Yet the slight touch of their hands indicate a connection that transcends time and death itself. The symbols of spirituality in the room are like a reminder of resurrection and life eternal for those who rely on the promises of God. Oh well, it's just an idea.

[kateh]

I've spent many hours staring at this in London, it's one of my myriad favourites lol!!! I know which world leader he reminds me of, eek. The detail is fabulously intricate, such breathtaking talent. I love the mirror, rosary and the dog (fido) in particular.
The picture is all the more fascinating because we don't know exactly what it represents. Although there is no mistaking the fact that the Arnolfini were cloth merchants, the liberal use of various material and fur is overwhelmingly obvious imho.
Thankyou for your insight Dr Kat. It's brilliant and gives us food for thought as ever. Stay safe xx

[Goddessofvets]

I'm so glad you chose to highlight this painting. 38 years ago I began college as an art major. My Art professor described the iconology almost identical to what you explained. He didn't know the couple at all, but told us it was a wedding "contract". The dog was loyalty and faithfulness. The mirror was the eye of God watching over. The single candle the light of God. The woman's dress meant her willingness to bare many children. The guests were explained to be the witnesses. The fruit, a symbol of a fruitful marriage and life together. I always loved iconology and it was this painting that started that love. Thank you so much for presenting it! Liz

[cl]

I think the use of red in the painting also points to the idea of a memorial painting for a woman who died in childbirth. The first hint of red is on the fruit on the left by the window. Fruit is a symbol for fertility, even early pregnancy because of the association with seed. The red seems to almost fan out or, one could see it as "bleeding" across the painting. The bed is enormous and could be seen as a symbol of death in childbirth. I also find it touching that the red elements in the room seem to be objects that the wife would have spent the most time with. Her slippers, her favorite spot to lounge and the luxurious bed they shared are all blood red reminders to her husband of a life cut short. I can see why people make this association. It all adds up. Even in a life of wealth, luxury and finery, death is woven into every corner, just like it is for anyone else. Art is so interesting.

[anonz]

Like others I think it is a memorial portrait in honor of his first wife. I am no history/art expert, but black represented mourning during that time period. On her side is a bed in red quote: "Red is the color of Pentecost and symbolizes the Holy Spirit. During the Medieval period it represented the blood of Christian martyrs". Possibly it implies she will rest in her grave until the resurrection while he must go into the outside world, however he vows to always love her and be devoted to her memory.
The fruit/fertility symbols would seem in bad taste for a memorial except for the fact they are all on HIS side, and outside or nearly outside implying he must leave their marriage chamber and go into the outside world where he will have children/heirs/love etc... If this were a wedding portrait I would expect the fertility symbols to be on her side or shared between them. Plus his dirty overshoes point towards the outside world, whereas hers are in the back of the room as if she is going to retire.
The prayer beads are also on his side along with the single candle likely saying he must keep faith.

[virginiasoskin]

We studied this painting in an art history class. We were told that it was a visual marriage certificate or document. We were told that the dog symbolizes domesticity. You also hit upon many details I had either forgotten about or weren't told about. I want to hit the article you include and read more. Yes, van Eyck signed it. Very similar to Michelangelo, who, when finished carving The Pieta, chiseled on Mary's sash, "Michelangelo Buonnaroti made this." Chutzpah and pride -- he must have been bustin' his buttons with pride at how The Pieta turned out. Kind of like an early brand or logo! Van Eyck's signature may have been more on the order of a witness signature to this marriage. I always loved the way he included us, the viewers, in this painting by painting us in the mirror. To me it looks like a man and woman, but who they might be is a mystery to me anyway....they are us, I guess. I watched the vid on creating a copy of the dress, which was incredibly detailed. All the clothing would have weighed quite a bit, but in a dank and poorly heated house, at least the woman was warm! I suspect that in a Holland city with lots of canals or near bays or the sea, the houses would have been cold and very damp. The wooden clogs prevented expensive fabric shoes with leather soles from becoming wet and caked with mud and dung -- streets were very dirty and filthy in the olden days. Even NYC at the turn of the century there was still so much horse dung ground into the cobbles that often there was no place to cart it off to, it was so thick and the smell must have been horrible, esp. in summer. WHEW! One reason women's skirts eventually were raised from trailing on the ground to ankle high was to keep the dresses cleaner and prevent them from dragging germs and filth into houses, and that was fairly recent,

[JeanieD]

I’ve always been fascinated by this painting. As to the morganatic marriage theory, I wonder if one would be memorialized in such a manner. I can’t recall ever seeing one portrayed in painting. I tend to agree that this is a memorial image of Giovanni’s first wife.

[Marianneduetje]

I have been binge watching all your vlogs for the last two days! So much information, I love it! On the fruits: I think these might be peaches. Certainly the fruit in the window sill looks more like that. I seem to remember having read in an article about the rich merchant families in the Netherlands at that time, it was fashionable to grow fruits agains the sun-catching walls of the garden. It was seen as an achievement and a hobby at the time. The article concerned the merchants as patrons of poets and writers such as Vondel and Brederode.

[alyxbearman]

Thank you so much for talking about this portrait! I've been fascinated since I discovered it, and have been reading a bit about it but I learned SO much from your discussion on it.
I think the interpretation of it as a memorial portrait carries weight, especially if you interpret the symbols of life and death on the left and right sides respectively (the lit and unlit candle, the death of Christ on the mirror being on Constanza's side and his life on Giovanni's side, for example).

Also you're so right about noticing something new every time, I'd never seen the red pair of shoes until this video! The medieval "Van Eyk woz ere" makes me laugh every time 😂

Thanks again for all your research, I really enjoyed this video!

[GEReyn]

Mirror reflection: I see what looks like a midwife, holding two swaddled infant heads. There are so many references to pregnancy/birth/death. So, perhaps, what the story painting is telling us is that there was a difficult birth ending with the death of three loved ones, and this is their memorial.

[SAGHAJAR]

Thanks it was very informative, I had never heard of Morganatic Marriage.

[make-upmaven]

I believe the fullness at her waist is due to her pulling up and holding some of the extra fabric of her gown, in front of her belt. Instead of placing her hand on her stomach, if you look closely, you can see she's actually got a handful of fabric in her left hand. I believe the gowns of the gentry during that time were overly long as a display of their wealth.

[ajalper]

This painting plays an important role in a book that I am working on, and I have a theory that I will detail in the book that I haven't seen written or expressed anywhere else. If this is in fact a memorial portrait, as a portrait painter, it would almost impossible to execute a convincing portrait without the benefit of an existing portrait or photography. If we are to believe that this is a memorial portrait of Costanza, then it is more likely that it started off as a very expensive double portrait of Giovanni and Costanza. This would fit the wealth of the couple to hire the most expensive portrait painter in Bruges. Also, such a portrait with such fine detail would have taken several months to over a year. Van Eyck could have already started the portrait in 1432 or 1433, with Costanza mostly complete at the time of her death in 1433 in childbirth or illness. This would have put a stop to the progress of the portrait. But after some time of mourning, Giovanni may have decided to have the portrait completed as a memorial. If she were, in fact, pregnant early on in the portrait but before showing, it would explain many of the symbols of both fertility, motherhood, and the addition of his dark clothing and other symbols relating to death, the extinguished candle, and the stations of the cross after the crucifixion that are on her side of the mirror. The signature could also point to his bearing witness to her passing during the making of the portrait. So much of my theory depends on this being a portrait of Costanza, but it isn't unreasonable to imaging that she died during the making of the portrait. Thoughts?