We are facing a key work of a author who led the vanguard of his time painting in his country. Jan Van Eyck, along with his brother Humbert, one of the leading figures in the painting movement we know today as "Flemish primitives."
emerged in the fifteenth century Flanders appear as an innovative group that introduces new themes and values \u200b\u200bin painting. Flemish society of that time finds itself in a process of industrialization unknown in the rest of Europe. The weaving industry of wool imported from England, turned into a very expensive cloths sold worldwide, has generated a rich bourgeois class through the process that requires a specific art religious art differential prevailing in the rest of the known world . The wealthy merchants of the Netherlands to claim Pictures to enhance his vanity and decorative elements to beautify their new palaces. For this exploit the best of local tradition: the love of the landscape and still life, issues related to the simple life and naturalism Germanic art in this lawsuit are a perfect breeding ground for development. On the other hand, the introduction of oil painting on panel of flamenco artists provides a suitable tool to fully express these issues and to highlight the new innovative spirit.
week's work is a paradigmatic example of the artistic moment. This is an oil on board of 80 * 60 centimeters. The scene is a moment of the ceremony as a liaison between the rich Italian merchant Arnolfini and his young wife, of Italian descent as well. The picture is conceived as a kind of public marriage certificate which attests to the painter himself as a witness (signing the work in the back wall between the mirror and the lamp and adding the phrase JOHAN VAN EYCH Fuit HIC).
Forms are defined by the contrast of colors and lights, the line has disappeared as an essential element to separate volumes. The drawing is strong and firm.
warm colors predominate so that the green dress the bride stands out especially. The set is riddled with realism and volumes are perfectly modeled by soft degradation.
lights and shadows are interspersed to give a heightened sense of depth by the vanishing of the window and architectural elements which perspective is introduced in a line similar to that described by the work of Brunelleschi in Italy .
The main figures are arranged next to each other as required by the situation portrayed suggested holding a wedding ceremony. In all other secondary figures abound scene laden with symbolism: the dog symbolizes fidelity and conjugal love, the shoes could symbolize the sanctity of marriage, the fruit next to the window means fertility or original sin.
The thoroughness of the work of Van Eyck is evident not only in the naturalism of his portraits of the parties or the detail put into the representation of all elements of the painting, but finds its ultimate expression in the hard work carried out in the mirror at the back of the scene, despite its small size contains clearly identifiable, the representation of ten scenes from the life of Christ and a view of the scene depicted from which we can observe the Arnolfini and the painter himself along with a wedding guest.
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