Title of Artwork: “Portrait of Margaret van Eyck”
Artwork by Jan van Eyck
Year Created 1439
Summary of Portrait of Margaret van Eyck
Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck painted this portrait of Margaret van Eyck (or Margaret, the Artist’s Wife) in 1439. It is one of the earliest European artworks to depict a painter’s spouse, and one of the two most recent of his surviving paintings. She completed it around the age of 34 and it was hung in the Guild of painters’ chapel in Bruges until the early 18th century. For either a self-portrait known from records until 1769, or Jan van Eyck’s likely self-portrait in the National Gallery in London, the work is thought to be a pendant or diptych panel.
All About Portrait of Margaret van Eyck
Its origin is a mystery, but the sitter’s unidealized representation and her direct but plaintive gaze towards the viewer, which creates an intimate and informal atmosphere, suggest that it was made for private rather than public viewing. Most likely, the artist painted the picture as a gift to the woman, either in honour of their wedding anniversary or to celebrate her birthday.
Van Eyck passed away two years after completing this piece. “My husband Johannes completed me in the year 1439 at the age of 33,” he wrote in Greek letters on plates at the top and bottom of the frame. To the best of my ability. Van Eyck’s personal motto and motif was “as I can,” which was also a play on his surname, “as I can.” Only two of his portraits bear this inscription, which can be found on a few of his religious works.
Margaret is depicted in a three-quarter view, which means that her body is almost, but not quite, facing the camera. In front of a flat black background, she wears an elegant red woollen gown with a grey fur lining (fur was often used to represent female sexuality during the mediaeval period). The fur is most likely from a squirrel, and it is around her neck and cuffs. Lace adorns the wimple on her horned head. She has squinted her left eye, which is unusual in northern Europeans of the time. The artist has taken a number of artistic liberties in order to highlight his wife’s features. A device used by the artist to focus on the artist’s wife’s facial features is her out-of-proportion head and unusually high forehead. Her headdress, arms, and neckline form a geometric pattern that allows her face to take centre stage in the image.
After he moved to Bruges in 1432–33, he married her, and the first of their two children was born in 1434; she is not mentioned before he relocated. Damoiselle Marguierite is the most common spelling of Margaret’s maiden name, which is no longer used in contemporary records. In this portrait, she appears to be of aristocratic birth, though from the lower nobility, as evidenced by her fashionable attire, but not the opulence of the Arnolfini Portrait’s bride. People of the 15th century were able to wear black only because it was an expensive dye, which was reserved for the upper echelons of society. After Jan’s death, the city of Bruges granted Margaret a modest pension as his widow. At least some of this money was invested in the lottery, according to records.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
