Jan Van Eyck was a Flemish painter during the Northern Renaissance. The exact date and place of his birth are uncertain, but it is assumed that he was born around the year 1390.* He used oil and canvas to create extremely accurate and realistic paintings, unlike the unrealistic and decorative Gothic style that preceded his time. But the haunting question remains: Was Van Eyck a Christian hero or a heretic?
He was employed by two different courts during his lifetime. First, he worked for John of Bavaria, Count of Hainaut-Holland (1422-24), and then for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy (1425-41). “Employment at court secured him an unusually high social position for a painter.” ** His habit of signing, dating and painting was also unusual, proof that he knew how to read and write.
The Ghent Altarpiece, the work of both Jan Van Eyck and his brother Hubert, was one of the most remarkable paintings of the period. Unlike normal triptychs, the Ghent Altarpiece has four separate panels and is painted on both sides. It has been called the “super-altar” because it contains twenty pieces of various dimensions (1).
The centerpiece of this exhibit is a lamb standing in heaven with blood flowing from its chest, a symbol of the atonement of Christ, the lamb of God now alive from the dead. This is from the Apocalypse where Saint John saw “between the throne (with the four living beings) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain…” (Rev. 5:6).
Jan Van Eyck used an oil medium for some of his paintings to create an “atmospheric perspective”: where, for example, the mountain range blends imperceptibly with the color of the sky. Although he did not introduce the use of an oil medium, he developed varnish by mixing oil into his paintings, rather than the usual egg medium in medieval paintings. The oil gave his paintings a jewel-like brilliance, translucency, and color intensity.
Van Eyck respected nature as a mirror of divine truth. His religious symbolism reveals a strong understanding of spiritual reality expressed in everyday life. His painting “Arnolfini Wedding”, full of religious symbolism, shows the sacramental character of the marriage alliance (2).
Here is the painter playing the role of a wedding photographer hundreds of years before the advent of the camera. A related episode in Van Eyck’s life saw him travel to the court of Princess Isabella of Portugal with a marriage proposal from her patron, Philip the Good. Part of his task was to deliver a portrait of the beautiful princess for Phillip, who had not yet met his future wife.
However, there are others who detect a more sinister side to Van Eyck, attributing his skill with oil to alchemy. There is evidence in the Ghent Altarpiece to suggest that Van Eyck foreshadowed the Rosicrucianism that arose at the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England in the following century. The rose, which is a symbol of secrecy, suggests the communication of esoteric knowledge under a veil of Christian imagery.
For example, Saint Barbara, patron saint of alchemy, appears on the Ghent Altarpiece. Also, the word AGLA is hidden in a tile on one of the floors. According to Philip Coppens, the word was a magical protective formula, a cabalistic acronym. In his essay “Van Eyck: The heretic of painting?” Coppens concludes: “…if The Adoration of the Lamb” was meant to be a magical talisman for a New Age, then he was the man who sowed and ushered in that age.”***
Jan had influenced art history by developing intense realism, landscapes, and portraiture in art, as well as introducing the use of oil paint. He died in Bruges, Belgium, in 1441. *
Gallery:
1) Ghent Altarpiece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_altarpiece
2) Arnolfini Wedding: http://www.gardenofpraise.com/art29.htm
