Eyck, Jan van The Arnolfini Portrait 1434 - Essay Example

Eyck, Jan van The Arnolfini Portrait 1434 This paper discusses The Arnolfini Portrait painted by Jan van. Aesthetic response, formal and historical theories, as discussed in Preble’s Artforms will be applied in this artwork. Aesthetic or functional theories of art are in many ways the most perceptive theories of art. At its base, the word ‘aesthetic’ is used to denote to a category of phenomenal occurrence and aesthetic explanations recognize artworks with artifacts projected to produce aesthetic experiences. Nature can be attractive and it can bring into being aesthetic experiences, but nature does not hold the function of bring into being those experiences. For such a function, an aim is essential, and thus agency – the artist and this has been richly applied in the artwork as it will be seen in the subsequent discussions. The formalist theory of art states that one is supposed to focus only on the formal properties of art--the "form" not the "content". Those formal properties may take account of, the visual arts, color, form, and line, and, for the musical arts, beat and synchronization. Artist who use this theory in their artwork do not deny that works of art might have content, representation, or narrative-rather, they refute that those things are appropriate in one’s ability to be thankful for or be aware of art (Frank, Patrick, and Preble, 5). Finally, Preble’s discussed the historical theories of art which asserts that for something to be art, it must bear some relationship to existing works of art. The accurate extension of ‘art’ at time t (the present) take account of all the works at time t-1 and in addition any works produced in the gone time. In order for these extra works to be ‘art’ they must put up with a likeness or relation to those formerly recognized artworks. Such a description appear to beg the question of where this hereditary status came from, and that is why historical descriptions of art are obliged to also take account of a disjunctive for first art: Something is art if it contains a historical relation to earlier artworks or it is first art. The Arnolfini Portrait is a painting made on oak panel using oil and its history is though to be in the year 1434 by the Early Netherlands painter Jan van Eyck. People have coined their own different words to identify and name the paining. It has been called The Arnolfini Wedding, or Marriage or the Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, along with other titles. The size of the painting is approximated to be a little full-length double portrait. History has it that the painting was thought to symbolize one of the Italian businessman named Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and possibly his wife. The setting of the picture is thought to be their home, the Flemish city of Bruges. It is well thought-out to be one of the more authentic and intricate paintings in Western art because of the iconography, the remarkable geometric orthogonal angle, the employment of the mirror to reflect the space. Van Eyck employed the method of applying layer subsequent to another layer of thin translucent glazes to generate a painting with an intensity of both tone and color. The glowing colors also assist to draw attention to the realism, and to prove the material wealth and opulence of Arnolfinis world. Van Eyck took advantage of the extended drying time of oil paint, contrast to tempera, to mix together colors by painting wet-in-wet to attain subtle distinction in light and shade to heighten the illusion of three-dimensional forms. The medium of oil paint also allowed van Eyck to capture surface emergence and differentiate textures accurately. He also rendered the effects of both direct and diffuse light by showing the light from the window on the left reflected by a range of surfaces. It has been alluded that he used a magnifying glass in order to paint the tiny details such as the individual highlights on each of the amber beads hanging next to the mirror. The illusionism of the painting was extraordinary for its time, in part for the rendering of detail, but predominantly for the use of light to bring to mind space in an interior, for "its completely persuasive depiction of a room, as well of the people who live in it”. no matter what implication is given to the scene and its details, and there has been much argument on this, according to Frank, Patrick, and Duane Preble (4) the artwork "is the only fifteenth-century Northern panel to survive in which the artists contemporaries are shown engaged in some sort of action in a contemporary interior. It is indeed tempting to call this the first genre painting - a painting of everyday life - of modern times". It was painted as an authorized documentation of the occasion of the marriage of the couple, inclusive with observers and a witness autograph. According to (Hicks, 7), there are lot of particulars of domestic items in the painting each have a concealed symbolism attached to their manifestation. While Hicks claim that the painting produced a type of certificate of marriage, his claim is not acknowledged by all art historians, however, his examination of the symbolic function of the details is broadly agreed, and has been put into effect to several other early Netherlanders paintings, particularly a number of representations of the Annunciation set in luxuriantly detailed interiors, a custom for which the Arnolfini Portrait and the Mérode Altarpiece by Robert Camping symbolize the start. It is thought that the couple is already married owing to the womans headdress. A non-married woman would have her hair down, according to traditions of people who live in Netherlands. The position of the two figures imply conventional 15th century views of marriage and gender roles – the woman situate next to the bed and fit into the room, figurative of her role as the custodian of the house, while Giovanni stands close to the open window, figurative of his responsibility in the outside world. Arnolfini looks directly out at the viewer, his wife fix your eyes on submissively at her husband. His hand is perpendicularly raised, representing his commanding position of influence, at the same time as her hand in a lower, horizontal, more obedient pose. On the other hand, her stare at her husband can also be evidence for her equality to him because she is not looking down at the floor as inferior class women would. They are part of the Burgundian court life and in that structure she is his equal, not his subordinate. The symbolism after the action of the couples connected hands has also been discussed amongst researchers. Many point to this gesture as confirmation of the paintings intention. Is it a marriage agreement or something else? Hicks deduce the gesture as an act of fides, who were contracting their marriage by marital pledge. The man is grasping the womans right hand with his left which is the foundation for the disagreement. Some researchers like Jan Baptist Bedaux and Peter Schabacker claim that if the painting does illustrate a marriage ceremony, then the use of the left hand points to the marriage being morganatic and not clandestine. A marriage is said to be morganatic if a man wed a woman of unequal class. On the other hand, the subjects formerly thought by most researcher s to be symbolized in this painting, Giovanni Arnolfini were of one and the same status with Giovanna Cenami and rank in the courtly classification, so the theory would not hold right. On the opposite side of the debate are scholars like Margaret Carroll. She advocates that the painting use the imagery of a contract between already married couples giving the wife the power to act on her husbands behalf in business operations. Carroll identify Arnolfinis raised right hand as a gesture of oath-taking known as "fidem levare", and his joining hands with his wife as a gesture of approval known as "fides manualis" (Zuffi, Stefano, and Jan Van, 8). It appears that the Arnolfini Portrait fell into English hands during the Napoleonic Wars. It was then taken to London, offered to the Crown, who turned down it, before ultimately being bought in 1842, for £600, by the then recently-formed National Gallery in London and being. After the painting was sold, it was significantly enlarged from the small slides that it was previously painted on. Present estimates propose that the work would be valued well over £100 million if ever sent for public sale. Jan van Eyck was born in the city of circa in the year 1395. In 1425, he got a job and was working under Duke Philip, the Good of Burgundy. He began painting in 1432, with "Adoration of the Lamb," being his first painting the followed by the altarpiece for the Church of St. Bavon, Ghent. In 1434, he produced another work of art, "Arnolfini Wedding." All the way through his career; van Eyck used oil painting in his visual rendering and panel paintings. He passed on July 9, 1441 in Bruges, Netherlands. Works Cited Frank, Patrick, and Duane Preble. Prebles Artforms: An Introduction to the Visual Arts. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Frank, Patrick, and Duane Preble. Artnotes to Accompany Prebles Artforms. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2006. Hicks, Carola. Girl in a Green Gown: The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait. London: Chatto & Windus, 2011. Zuffi, Stefano, and Jan Van Eyck. Van Eyck: The Arnolfini Portrait. Pero (Milan): 24 ORE Cultura, 2012. Read More