Why Is Jan Van Eyck Important

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most famous painters of all time. His style was post-impressionism. He was a Dutch man, born in an averaged sized town called Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. The reason he became an artist, and the thing that influenced him the most to become an artist was actually his mother. His mother was interested in nature, she did a lot of drawing and watercolors and that really influenced her son heavily and got him into art. When he was fifteen years old, his family was really struggling with their finances. Because of this, he was forced to get a job and help them provide. It ended up that his uncle owned an art dealership, so he got a job there.

Vincent van Gogh was one of many artists who self taught himself, who transformed the appearance of Post-Impressionism incessantly. His main focuses were his paintings, which he mostly painted in oil mediums. In his time, he has produced lot of paintings, most of which were of cityscapes, figure and landscape scenery. Unlike Pablo

In the article “Sexuality and Social Standing In Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Double Portrait” the author analyzes the religious and social grammars of marriage. This short paper will be a reflection of Harbison’s article that discusses religious and marital norms throughout, with also analyzing various sections of van Eyck’s piece, for example: implying the piece as a marriage document or contract of the marriage, which immediately makes the viewer look deeper into the double portrait. All of this helped me realize that pieces of art are not simply “pictures,” rather they are narratives like a scene in a documentary. The author starts the article with a clear thesis of analyzing the social religious and marital norms when this piece was made.

Especially for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his paintings in their frames, then considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together). In the most substantial early source for him, a 1454 biography by the Genoese humanist Bartolomeo Facio (De viris illustribus), Jan van Eyck was named "the leading painter" of his day. Facio places him among the best artists of the early 15th century, along with Rogier van der Weyden, Gentile da Fabriano, and Pisanello. It is particularly interesting that Facio shows as much enthusiasm for Netherlandish painters as he does for Italian painters. This text also sheds light on aspects of Jan van Eyck's production now lost. Jan van Eyck likely had some knowledge of Latin for his many missions abroad on behalf of the Duke. Jan van Eyck died in Bruges in 1441 and was buried there in the Church of St Donatian (destroyed during the French Revolution). (From

In 1502 The Italian statesman Piero Soderini had namely instructed Leonardo to paint the scene of Milanese forces who where conquered by the Italian knights in 1440 on Tuscany’s plain of Anghari. He used this chance to experiment with a new technique,oil painting,but unfortunately ended in failure.

Jan van Eyck painted portraits and religious paintings during the Northern Renaissance. He painted portraits of royalty and other wealthy people. Van Eyck also painted religious paintings for the church. Van Eyck was one of the only Northern Renaissance painters who could read and write. He signed his own paintings with a clever signature. He also wrote lengthy inscriptions on his paintings. Van Eyck’s work is still copied today.

First, it is tempera on panel, which possibly could explain many imperfections. But what really catches your attention in Gentile’s painting is an absolute lack of air, along with irrational usage of space. It seems like the artist was stacking human figures in the painting, so that everybody’s face would be shown. There we can see a greater deal of International Gothic style (straight lines, look-alike faces, awkward/illogical body positions, etc.) Still the most significant difference between Rogier’s work and Gentile’s work is the usage of space, presence of atmosphere. While going up the hill, in “Adoration of the Magi”, all the details stay the same as if there was no air. It’s impossible to ignore artist’s very primitive light/shadow usage: not only it’s extremely difficult imagine where the light source is, but you can’t even find a single rational shadow. Rogier van Weyden’s “St. Luke drawing the Virgin” surely excelled the painting of Gentile da Fabriano in many aspects.

He joined the Renaissance, Flemish School movement. He is called the father of oil painting. Little is known about his early life and background. Until 1425, he worked as a painter and restoring pictures at the court of Duke Johann of Bavaria in The Hague. In the remaining years of his life, he worked as court artist to Philip the Good (31 July 1396 - 15 June 1467) who liked his realistic painting. His painting was detailedly realistic depictions and natural light. He often painted with many religious subjects and portrait artworks. Most of his artworks were humanism because he primarily emphasized on the humans in his paintings. The major Netherlandish painters of this period were Rogier van der Weyden(1399 or 1400- 18 June 1464), Jan van Eyck, Dieric Bouts (1415- 6 May 1475). The artists were influenced by the Early Italian Renaissance. The characteristics of this period were rich colors, attention to detail, realism, frescoes, and a religious work. Since the 15th century artists had no art supply stores, they should grind pigments and add egg to make paints. It called tempura. The artist of Portrait of a Man in a Turban is Jan van Eyck. The medium is oil on oak. Dimensions are 19.0 x 25.7. He used many firebrick, sienna, black, and burly-wood colors. The Current location of this

In the painting, ‘Virgin and Child’, by Rogier van der Weyden, it can be observed that the artist chose to use the medium of oil on wood. Despite the fact that Rogier van der Weyden created this painting in the Netherlands and was born in Tournai, Belgium, their primary influence appeared to stem from the Italian Renaissance, which had begun to use the technique of oil paintings with increasing frequency by turn of the 15th century. The subject of the painting itself, Madonna and her virgin child, were a common theme in the Renaissance, where religious subjects and topics were the primary choice for any prominent artist during this historical artistic period.

The Leonardo de Vinci used oils to paint his picture. During the 15th century using oils was very common. By using oils Leonardo was able to create a real lifelike painting. Since the oils dry slowly he was probably able

Jan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who fascinated by the use of light in his paintings. “Unlike Caravaggio and Rembrandt, who used light for dramatic emphasis, Vermeer concentrated on the way light reveals each color, texture, and detail of the physical world” (Preble 307). Vermeer

Santa Trinita Madonna by Cenni di Pepo shows how color was used in the Middle Ages. Mary, Jesus, and the angels are all olive-skinned and dressed in some variation of red, yellow, or blue. Jan van Eyck is credited with the first known use of oil media on wood. Oil paint lasts much longer and can be blended and glazed. In Portrait of a Man by Jan van Eyck, the use of a brighter red against black provides contrast and the subject’s skin is a flesh tone.

Many of this pictures contributed to studies of various emotions, which were later used in his religious and historical paintings. The may have also been used to illustrate his command of chiaroscuro, or the use of light and shade without color. In one painting deep shadows cover his face, leaving his features almost unrecognizable. In Protestant Holland during this time, religious art was valued as not being important. Even so, biblical and religious subjects accounted for about one-third of his work. Drama, as part of the Baroque period, was fully accentuated.

As I closely approached the painting I began to realize the differences between Jan van Eyck and Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment”. Contrary to Michelangelo’s “Last

Jan Van Eyck artistic style is very identifiable. Eyck's use of iconography, the use of symbolism in a work, occurred in a majority of his paintings. His creation of oil paint allowed him to create a detailed painting with varying textures. The use of natural lighting and vibrant colors, known as impasto, is very characteristic of Van Eyck painting.