LECTURE 1 "The Ghent Altarpiece"
Jan van Eyck: Art as a Mirror of the World
•
1h 7m
Dr. Laurinda Dixon
The magnificent Ghent Altarpiece, which consists of many individual panels hinged together, bears the first reference to Jan van Eyck, along with his older brother Hubert. Distinctive in its large scale, complex symbolism, photographic realism, and use of oil paint, this work inspired artists worldwide for centuries. Art historians still debate the division of hands between the two van Eyck brothers and the fine points of its complex iconography.
Up Next in Jan van Eyck: Art as a Mirror of the World
-
LECTURE 2 "The Marian Paintings"
Religious devotion in the fifteenth century was centered around the Virgin Mary. In her role as mother of God and paragon of female virtue, she assumed new relevance in art. Van Eyck presents her as both humble and exalted, as the Virgin Annunciate and seated on the throne of heaven. His Maria...
-
LECTURE 3 "The Portraits"
Van Eyck was renowned for the living realism of his portraits, which present the sitter not in the traditional Italian profile pose, but for the first time in a three-quarter facial view. Many of his portrait subjects gaze outward, directly engaging the eyes of the viewer for the first time in ar...
