The Arnolfini Wedding

In the famous painting “The Arnolfini Portrait” by Jan van Eyck, Giovanni is holding his wife’s hand in such a way, as if he is presenting her as his property or his treasure. Another point to be made about the painting is that Giovanna is facing towards her husband while posing, whereas Giovanni is facing towards the artist who is painting the picture and holding his hand up, which creates an idea for the viewer that he is the more dominant and of the most importance out of everyone and everything else in the picture. In his poem “The Arnolfini Marriage”, Durcan presents the substantial Arnolfini marriage but represents Mr. Arnolfini as overpowering. Eamon Grennan, an Irish poet, and critic, observes that “at a blinding oblique angle to what would normally be seen in the painting itself.” Indeed, Durcan’s poem uses oblique angles in illustrating the …show more content…
Giovanni is caught saying things that would imply he is trying to be the more dominant figure in the relationship, but he concludes his speech about his marriage and the painting by saying that he and his wife are an unbreakable bond, the two halves of a coconut. The portrayal of this bond of love with the scent of arrogance and dominance by Durcan tells the story of Giovanni and his wife’s equally unequal relationship. Similarly to Durcan’s technique, Robert Browning accomplishes an unexpected portrayal with the Duke of Ferrara in the poem “My Last Duchess”. In the poem there are subtitle clues that the Duke is insane and it is suggested that the Duke killed his Duchess. The Duke remains charmed with the women he killed, but now his love is solely on the ideal image of her rather than the reality. This, like Durcan, shows that the Duke is unintentionally portrayed like how Mr. Arnolfini is unintentionally portrayed as