Jan Van Eyck, Arnolfini Portrait, Marrying Arnolfini

Jan Van Eyck, Arnolfini Portrait, Marrying Arnolfini

"Arnolfini Marriage" is a name given to the portrait attributed to this nameless couple by Jan van Eyck, which is currently in the National Gallery in London. This is one of the greatest celebrations of human reciprocity. Like Rembrandt's "Jewish Bride", this painting also reveals the inner meaning of a real marriage.

Giovanni Arnolfini, a wealthy Italian banker who settled in Bruges, and his wife Giovanna Cenami, are standing side by side in the bridal chamber, facing the viewer. The husband is reaching out to his wife's hand.

Despite the limited space, the painter managed to surround them with a series of symbols. On the left, the oranges placed on the low table and the windowsill are reminders of an original innocence, an era before sin. So, if it's not actually an orange, not an apple (it's hard to interpret exactly), they represent the allure of knowledge and the season in this case. The candle left burning in broad daylight on one of the branches of an ornate copper chandelier above the couple's heads can be interpreted as a wedding fire or the eye of God. The small dog in the foreground is an emblem of loyalty and love. Meanwhile, the marriage bed with bright red curtains evokes the act of physical love, an important part of the perfect unity of husband and wife according to Christian doctrine.

While all these different elements are laden with meaning, they are secondary in importance compared to the mirror, which is the focal point of the entire composition. The reflection of two small figures, whose images are captured as they cross the threshold of the room, can be seen. These are the painter himself and undoubtedly a young man who came to witness the marriage. However, what's important is that the convex mirror can absorb and reflect the floor and ceiling of the room, barely visible, as well as the sky and garden outside, in a single image from the side window. Thus, the mirror acts as a kind of hole in the fabric of space. It pulls the entire visual world into it, transforming it into a representation.

The cubic space in which the Arnolfinis are located is a precursor to the perspective techniques to come. Van Eyck applied perspective completely intuitively, unaware of the laws governing it. In this painting, he uses the mirror to explode the limits of the area to which his technique provides access, as soon as it threatens to limit him.