Re: The Arnolfini Portrait, painted by Dutch artist Jan van Eyck
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12 Apr 2024, 08:26
The Arnolfini Portrait, painted by Dutch artist Jan van Eyck in 1434, depicts two richly dressed figures, a man and a woman, standing hand-in-hand in an upstairs room which most likely functioned as a place to receive visitors. A common interpretation of the painting is that it is meant to serve as a marriage contract of sorts. The artist’s signature is both elaborate and central to the painting, appearing to be drawn on the wall behind the couple. The reflection in a mirror beneath the signature shows two additional figures just inside the door, one of whom is presumably van Eyck himself. It is argued that these two individuals constitute the two witnesses required to make a wedding legal, and that van Eyck’s signature acts as a testament to this role. Additionally, the female subject appears pregnant, which many interpret as a sign that this is a marriage of necessity. More recent and informed scholarship, on the other hand, questions the legitimacy of this analysis. An unmarried woman would have worn her hair down, while the female figure is wearing her hair up in a headdress. Furthermore, the female may not be pregnant after all, as female virgin saints were often depicted similarly, and her size may be a symbol of fertility rather than of pregnancy.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE PASSAGE OFFERS US THAT THE COMMON CONCEPTION OF THE ARTWORK PROBABLY WAS WRONG. This is not al alternative explanation but something that goes in another direction
D is correct