Biography of Jan van Eyck


Jan Van Eyck is a Flemish painter, brother of Hubert van Eyck. Of the two brothers, the elder Hubert was less famous. On the biography of Hubert van Eyck little reliable information.

Jan van Eyck was an artist at the court of John of Holland and Philip of Burgundy. During the service of the Duke of Philip, Jan van Eyck made several secret diplomatic trips. In 1428, in a biography of van Eyck, a trip to Portugal took place, where he painted a portrait of the bride of Philip – Isabella.

Eyck’s style was based on the implicit power of realism, served as an important approach in late medieval art. The outstanding achievements of this realistic direction, for example, the murals of Tommaso da Modena in Treviso, the works of Robert Kampen, influenced the style of Jan van Eyck. Experimenting with realism, Jan van Eyck achieved striking accuracy, an unusually pleasant difference between the quality of materials and natural light. This allows us to assume that his careful

delineation of the details of daily life was done with the intention of reflecting the splendor of the Lord’s creations.

Some writers falsely attribute to Jan van Eyck the discovery of the technique of oil painting. Undoubtedly, he played a key role in improving this technique, achieving with its help unprecedented wealth and color saturation. Jan van Eyck developed the technique of writing oil. He gradually achieved pedantic accuracy in depicting the world of nature.

Many followers unsuccessfully copied his style. The distinctive quality of the work of Jan van Eyck was the difficult imitation of his works. His influence on the next generation of artists, in northern and southern Europe, can not be overemphasized. The whole evolution of the Flemish artists of the 15th century had a direct imprint of his style.

Among the works of Van Eyck that survived, the greatest is the “Ghent Altar” – in the Cathedral of Saint Bavon in Ghent, Belgium. This masterpiece was created by two brothers, Jan and Hubert, and completed in 1432. The panels of the exterior show the day of the Annunciation,

when the angel Gabriel visited the virgin Mary, as well as the images of St. John the Baptist, John the Evangelist. The interior of the altar consists of “Lamb Worship”, revealing a magnificent landscape, as well as above pictures showing God the Father near the Virgin, John the Baptist, angels playing music, Adam and Eve.

Throughout his life, Jan van Yaik has created many magnificent portraits, which are famous for their crystal objectivity, accuracy of graphics. Among his paintings: a portrait of an unknown man, a portrait of a man in a red turban, a portrait of Jan de Liyuv in Vienna, a portrait of Margaret van Eyck’s wife in Bruges. The wedding picture “Giovanni Arnolfini and his bride” along with the figures shows an excellent interior.

In the biography of van Eyck, the artist’s special interest always fell on the image of materials, as well as the special quality of substances. His unsurpassed technical giftedness was particularly well manifested in two religious works – “Our Lady of Chancellor Rolen” in the Louvre, “Our Lady of Canon van der Pale” in Bruges. In the National Gallery of Arts in Washington, the painting “Annunciation” is presented, which is attributed to the hand of van Eyck. It is believed that some unfinished paintings by Jan van Eyck finished Petrus Christus.


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Biography of Jan van Eyck