Jan van Eyck was a 15th century Flemish painter considered the master of oil painting technique during the Northern Renaissance. His most famous work is the Ghent Altarpiece, painted for a cathedral in Ghent, which depicts important religious scenes and figures in intricate detail across multiple panels. Through its realistic figures and landscapes, the altarpiece tells the story of Christianity from the Old Testament prophets to the coming of Christ and the final judgment, focusing on redemption and humanity's return to paradise rather than damnation. Van Eyck's innovative oil technique allowed for photorealistic precision down to the smallest details, reflecting the new Renaissance view of nature as a reflection of the divine.

1. The Northern Renaissance
Jan Van Eyck

2. Jan Van Eyck, Portrait of a
Man (Self Portrait?), 1433,
National Gallery, London
The undisputed master of 15th century Flemish painting was Jan Van Eyck, who may be
the subject of this portrait in the National Gallery in London

3. Scholars believe the painting may be a self-portrait, painted as a kind of portfolio piece
to showcase the artist’s skill

4. The painting’s frame is signed with Van Eyck’s motto: Als Ik Kan (“As I can”)

5. The realism of the picture is astonishing, and demonstrates Van Eyck’s mastery of the oil
medium

6. Van Eyck’s most famous painting is the Ghent Altarpiece, which was made for an altar in
St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent

7. You may recognize it from George Clooney’s movie about the Monuments Men, who
rescued art works stolen by the Nazis in World War II
George Clooney shows a slide of the Ghent Altarpiece to the president in The Monuments Men, 2014

8. The painting is a polyptych (a multi-paneled altarpiece) which could be opened and
closed according to the liturgical calendar

9. THE ALTARPIECE CLOSED

10. Jan Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece
(closed), 1432
The figures on top represent the ancient Prophets and Sybils who foretold the coming of
the Messiah

11. Jan Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece
(closed), 1432
Down below are the donors, Jodocus Vyd and his wife Isabella Borluut

12. Jan Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece,
c. 1432
Oil on panel
11” X 7’ 6”
They pray piously towards painted statues of Saint John the Baptist, and St. John the
Evangelist

13. Jan Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece,
c. 1432
Oil on panel
11” X 7’ 6”
The theme of prophecy and fulfillment is at the heart of the piece: John the Baptist was
the last Prophet of the Old Testament, and John the Evangelist was the first Prophet of
the New Testament

14. Jan Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece,
c. 1432
Oil on panel
11” X 7’ 6”
This means that John the Baptist was the last to proclaim the coming of Christ, and John
the Evangelist was the first to proclaim that Christ will come again

15. The fulfillment of the prophecy begins to unfold in the middle register, where the
Annunciation takes place in a room that continues across three panels

16. The scene is painted in grisaille – a kind of monochrome (sort of like black and white
TV), suggesting a moment of transition in the “coming to life” of the prophecy

17. The angel carries a lily, symbolic of the Virgin, and recites the words “Hail Mary full of
grace the Lord is with thee” (written in gold script across the panel)

18. Mary responds with a gesture of submission, while a symbol of the Holy Dove floats
above her head. Her response is written upside down and backwards (presumably for
God to read)

19. In the center, the wooden supports of the panels cast shadows onto the floor, and there
is a view out the window towards a Flemish town

20. As in Campin’s work, the miraculous has been brought down to earth and placed in
setting that is concrete and real

21. When opened, the Ghent Altarpiece portrays a glorious image of Christ’s Second
Coming, when he returns to judge the living and the dead

22. Last Judgment, Autun Cathedral, 1130-45
While Medieval Last Judgments emphasized damnation (with the horrors of hell
depicted in vivid detail), Van Eyck’s painting focuses on redemption, and humanity’s
joyous return to Paradise

23. The Lord is depicted in the center upper panel dressed in rich red robes and wearing the
papal crown on his head, with an earthly crown rests at his feet. This shows that he is
“king of kings” and ruler of heaven and earth

24. Note the realistic treatment of fabric and skin, and the reflective surfaces of metal, glass,
and jewels, all made possible by Van Eyck’s mastery of oil technique

27. The Virgin Mary is seated on his right, wearing a crown studded with roses and lily’s,
symbols of her urity

28. St. John the Baptist is seated on his left, recognizable by the “hair shirt” he wears
beneath his cloak (he had lived as a hermit, and so wore primitive fur clothing)

29. Flanking them are the music making angels, who Van Eyck humanized by making them
look like a high school girls choir performing at a school assembly

30. Their facial features reveal that some are struggling to hit the right notes

32. To the left and right of the angels are Adam and Eve, the first sinners who were
banished from the Garden of Eden

33. They were the one’s who first got thrown out of Paradise, so the story has finally come
full circle

34. The realism of the figures is astonishing, with the lifelike skin tones and body hair, and
the palpable sense of blood pulsing through the veins

35. Adam’s foot even projects out of his niche, as if entering into our space

36. Adam, the first man, has been resurrected and brought back to life, which is the central
theme of the altarpiece

37. Eve is somewhat less anatomically convincing, perhaps because Van Eyck did not have
access to a nude female model

38. The lower panels depict an expansive landscape, with the sacrificial lamb (symbolic of
Christ) bleeding into a chalice on an altar

39. The faithful converge from all four corners of the earth, representing humanity’s joyous
return to Paradise

40. In contrast to Medieval images of the Last Judgment, there are no images of the
damned. Instead, the focus is on the the Blessed whose sins have been forgiven

41. The realistic detail of Van Eyck’s painting is astonishing

42. Plants and foliage are rendered with the precision of a botanist

43. Far away details are equally precise

44. It is as if we are seeing things through a microscope and a telescope

45. Or its like watching HD TV

46. The details reveal far more than the human eye is capable of seeing, suggesting that the
picture represents God’s perfect vision, rather than the imperfect vision of the human
eye

47. Jan Van Eyck’s attention to the tiniest details of the natural world reflects a new attitude
towards nature that was in itself a break with the past:

48. “During the Middle Ages, official doctrine had placed earthly realities on the lowest level
of the scale of Creation – if they were not, indeed, the work of the devil himself.
However, by the time of the Van Eyck brothers….People began to view the entire world
as the work of God, the source of all creation, and present in its every detail, no matter
how small and insignificant. Thus nature came to be seen as sacred, as it was a
reflection of God’s spirit. Where mediaeval art had focussed on a world beyond this
world, the new art was devoted to scrupulous observation of what lay before the artist’s
eyes. Imagination was replaced by attention. Every creature, every thing, was now
perceived as a sign – a metaphor – representing a spiritual truth. This vision determined
the artist’s vocation: to imitate the visible world as faithfully as possible, not merely in
order to glorify creation, but so as to reveal the metaphysical dimension that lay
concealed within.”
Web Gallery of Art