Arnolfini Portrait

Kierkegaard statement that “Man lives forward and understands backward”, used as an epigraph by Robert L Patten in his essay on David Copperfield, goes someway towards demonstrating the dual nature of the text – both as a story of a boy progressing through life, and simultaneously as the story of a writer considering his early life. However, he nature of the bildungsroman in David Copperfield is distorted further by a second level of fictionalization: the nature of David himself as narrator and…

In both documentaries, General Idi Amin Dada and The Act of Killing, the authors spent a considerable amount of time with the perpetrators of mass murder. In The Act of Killing Joshua Oppenheimer gets access to the executioners, gangsters and paramilitary leaders who carried out millions of mass killings. In General Idi Amin, Barbet Schroeder spent time with one of the greatest mass murderers and the third Ugandan President Idi Amin Dada. Schroeder was able to document his firsthand account of…

Throughout history, works of art often include symbolism or metaphorical imagery. In Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Wedding, he uses figuration and purposeful narrative to pass on conceptual ideas, human qualities, moral lessons, and hidden significance that alludes to more than what is first obvious to the eye. Although artists for the most part utilize imagery, they might likewise decide to speak to imagery and descriptions of an individual or concealed nature, subsequently denying most viewers full…

him time to mix colors and create layers. The painting that most embodies Eyck's skills is the Arnolfini Double Portrait, painted in 1434. The painting is currently displayed at the National Gallery in London. This double portrait is an intriguing piece that leaves more questions than answers. One of the reasons the painting is so intriguing, is because of who is being painted. At a time where portraits and paintings were more often than not, painted for and bought…

keep God in mind. In ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’ there are many religious elements shown. The couple’s shoes are off, the removal of their shoes is a ritual act or gesture about sacred soil and God. This was a very rare occasion and usually happened at weddings, funerals and births. A second religious element in the portrait is the mirror. At first glance the mirror looks ordinary but, when zoomed in and examined, tiny details are noticeable. One of these details is the portrait of the Passion of…

Arnolfini was a prosperous Italian banker who had settled in Bruges,with his wife, Giovanna Cenami. The painting portrays Giovanni Arnolfini in the bridal chamber side-by-side with his wife, facing the viewer, holding her hand. Like Rembrandt's "Jewish Bride", this painting supposedly reveals to us the inner meaning of…

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh and The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck are both famous paintings that were painted during the Post-Impressionism era and the Early Renaissance era. Each piece is unique and display different artistic composition. Starry Night portrays a glowing night sky over a village and The Arnolfini Portrait portrays a wealthy couple holding hands in a bedroom. The differences in time period and the artists’ experiences influenced the aesthetics of both artworks. Vincent…

Jan van Eyck’s, Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, was created during the midst of the early Renaissance, specifically the year 1434. But, it was not created in Italy along with the Renaissance. Instead, the ideas and rules of the place had spread, through various artists and trade, to places like Flanders. This oil on panel artwork, however is not like most portraits; in fact, this is a full-length double portrait. Many scholars and historians believe that this is one of the most complex early…

the beginning of the sixteenth century was when Michelangelo created art in a format that was expressive and held to its platform of divine work. Throughout this essay we will be talking about the works of Michelangelo David and Jan Van Eyck the Arnolfini Wedding. We will explore the detail the summary and techniques at the used throughout the early Renaissance from the use of paints to the use of marble. Michelangelo devoted his whole life to the creating of magnificent works of art. His work…

Northern Renaissance, and the Baroque time period. The specific paintings that I will be discussing are as follows: The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, Arnolfini Double Portrait by Jan van Eyck, and The Raising of the Cross by Rubens. The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci was meant to depict a very symmetrical view and portray the portrait as to how would been seen from the perspective of a real life experience. It was supposed to make the audience feel closer to these important individual,…