Class began with emphasizing that Northern European artists were focused on representing a convincing reality – whether through sculptures, or paintings (both religious and secular). Jan van Eyck was a Dutch painter whose work I found especially engaging during class. He was one of the earliest painters to sign and date his work, helping artists today identify and track his pieces. Throughout his career, van Eyck was a painter for the Duke of Burgundy and part of his court. This gave van Eyck the freedom to paint what he wanted as he wasn’t living off commissions. The Arnolfini Portrait was fascinating to dissect when looking for “disguised symbolism.” The details of shoes, fruit, little statues, and even which side of the room the figures stand on, show that van Eyck put much thought into his portraits. Even his suspected self portrait has details such as wrinkles that make his subject appear real.
Hans Hemling continued this idea of a convincing reality with his diptych of prayer to Mary and child. He created an image where The Virgin comes into your space as a result of prayer. He even creatively uses mirrors to show space and the reflection of saint and human together. This tactic is similar to one used by van Eyck in the Arnolfini Portrait, where he shows extra figures not in the painting’s perspective through the reflection of a mirror. The detail, precision, and vision it took to add those details to these works of art is amazing.