Jan Van Eyck: Most Famous Renaissance Artist

Jan Van Eyck, one of the most famous painters from the Renaissance era, is a man of mystery; no one knows anything about his childhood, birth, or family. The documents from his time were most likely lost, didn’t survive, or were never documented. He is known for his paintings in the courts, religious art works, portraits of famous figures, and himself. There aren’t many records of his early life. It is unknown about his birth because it was never documented by his mother and father or lost. Still, with the help of some documents that have survived, some experts can make an educated guess that Jan Van Eyck was born in the 1380’s through the 1390’s. We do have the date of his death which is July 9th, 1441 in the 15th century. His life as a painter is significant; he was alive during the Renaissance. Jan was well known during his time by rulers, saints, or other famous painters. Most speculate that Jan Van Eyck was born in Maaseik, Belgium; there are barely any records of Jan Van Eyck in his early life. Some have speculated about his birth with one document; since we have no birth document. …show more content…
Many use this court document to speculate a birth date sometime between 1380 through 1390. Although some experts using this document speculate his birth; many others speculate his birth to be close to 1380 because of his supposed self-portrait. This self portrait of Jan was created somewhere in 1433. The portrait is currently in London and has been there since 1851. The portrait in question is of a man with a red turban on his head. This portrait is question to be a self-portrait or a portrait of an unknown man wearing the