Jan van Eyck, the Story of His Most Stunning Painting

[@Alexg1561-t4m]

Jan van Eyck is rapidly becoming my favourite artists. The Arnofini portrait is another absolute masterpiece. The level of detail that this man could achieve on "relatively" small pieces of wood is just astonishing. These days, the photorealists tend to use very large working surfaces to allow them to capture the detail, yet Jan was able to do it on much smaller surfaces. Just incredible levels of hand control.

[@deborahscotland8819]

Bruges is a wonderful place, I've been there a number of time and every time I go, I visit this painting. Breathtaking.

[@Friedsteel]

Beyond amazing!! Just WOW, and to think it is centuries old.. They had to make their own paints. The workmanship is mind numbing. The details,, awe inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

[@motherofmike9648]

Thanks for the explanation. I visited the museum several years ago and stopped in my tracks when I saw this painting. It was so stunning I went back three times to look at it. I wish I had taken your advice and got a chair and a magnifying glass! I really must go back and see it again, now that you have pointed out some things I overlooked last time.

[@storiesofart]

You are very welcome

[@dixirose111]

I will go with you!

[@teresaroseburg9911]

All I have to graduate you that was beautiful that was wonderful and yes I was able to see the reflection in St George of armor such a beautiful painting hopefully God willing I will see it in person one day

[@dianarose5908]

Thank you. Your videos are excellent!

[@5809AUJG]

Thank you!! I'd never seen this painting...it's gorgeous,..and what a wonder it it is. This man was a genius of geniuses. And....I think he used optics to get his wonderful faces and textures and angles. He was amazing! I'm grateful to you for bringing this superb work to my life. I'll be studying it forever.

[@olenievart]

Pure joy of art and storytelling, thanks.

[@storiesofart]

You are most welcome

[@bev9708]

WONDERFUL!!!! I am so happy to subscribe to your channel and am really looking forward to checking out your other videos. Thank you so much!!! Years ago I had the great good fortune of studying Renaissance Art in Florence, and many times I visited and studied Fra Angelico's magnificent paintings and frescos in San Marco, which never failed to bring tears to my eyes. Discovering Van Eyck since then has been an absolute jaw-dropping revelation, not to mention a number of other artists from the great Northern Renaissance. Even aside from the breathtaking detail of his works, I am continually absolutely astounded by just how profoundly in advanced he was in the development of art! Unfortunately I knew nothing about Renaissance Art when I visited the beautiful Bruges, and am now planning to get back there as soon as I can to visit the museum with a new eye and appreciation.

[@storiesofart]

I hope you can ge there soon. It is such a wonderful city. And close to Ghent as well.

[@bev9708]

@@storiesofart OHH yes indeed, very close!! I was planning a trip to Ghent and Bruges this summer but stopped by COVID. In the meantime, I've been binging your videos and am enjoying them immensely... keep up the great work!!!

[@storiesofart]

I will!

[@dixirose111]

van Eych’s faces are so mesmerizing…the depth, the curiosity, the directionality pointing you to another subject…

[@dresdenfae]

I’m doing research for an upcoming trip to Ghent and this video was amazing. I will get so much more out of my visit. Thanks!

[@storiesofart]

Have fun!

[@judithmccrea2601]

I was fortunate enough to have seen this sumptuous painting. I stood for over an hour fascinated by the beauty and exquisite detail of it. I think I looked at St. George left leg armor for at least 15 minutes. It is incredible.

[@jetpetty1613]

Excellent work! I love Eyck's gorgeous work. The historical are endlessly fascinating! Thank you ❤

[@storiesofart]

Many thanks!

[@xmaseveeve5259]

I think it would be wonderful if you did a long video, looking at each of the 20 or so paintings, as close as possible to the order in which they were painted. Nobody else has done this. Thank you.

[@stephenogier7499]

I really love the detail you have shown us in this fabulous painting. Hartelijk bedankt!.

[@storiesofart]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@silvertbird1]

How anyone is able to produce such exquisite images using merely paint and brushes is nearly incomprehensible. How wonderful so many have survived the centuries.

[@storiesofart]

Brilliant, aren't they? if you enjoyed this video, please share it with whomever you think might enjoy it.

[@FirstLast-iv2tc]

Breath taking painting.

[@storiesofart]

It is isn't it?

[@nellylama976]

Wonderful! One of the best presentations on art in video. Thank you. Nelly Lama, art historian.

[@ursulacanavan2182]

Delightful!

[@MtLionWay4]

I saw this when I was 18. I stared at it a long time! The beautiful details are so impressive. Thank you for including the close up photos. Your art videos are wonderful. 👍😺

[@storiesofart]

You are so welcome!

[@enragedkaiser237]

Fantastic video, van Eyck is definitely my favourite painter of the period

[@storiesofart]

thanks! I also did one on the Arnolfini portrait

[@xray7908]

Well done, thank you. This and the Ghent altarpiece are on my bucket list.

[@storiesofart]

Good choice!

[@julindaalinaga4451]

Thanks for the detail explanation🙏🌷

[@storiesofart]

Thanks! Glad you liked it. Feel free to share it!

[@KJensenStudio]

Oh, you talked about the columns, fantastic! You are the only one I've seen yet who has done that. I couldn't stop looking at them, and wondered what the stories were there. I wondered if they might represent different ethnic groups, since the styles looked similar to some, like Scandinavian, Egyptian, French. No idea why, but for sure no accidents anywhere from Jan Van Eyck, a Master of details. Thank you for this. Now I can look for little Bible references too.

[@storiesofart]

He actually painted the same colomns on other paintings as well

[@sinyvandeven1656]

Marvellous explained ! Thank you so much, can.t wait seeing this painting for real

[@storiesofart]

I hope you can soon!

[@keeskrokodil]

What a fantastic storyteller you are, I'm looking forward to watching all of your videos. Thank you!

[@storiesofart]

Thank you so much! There will be a new one in a few hours!

[@IndustryHarm]

Detail in that painting wow ...

[@כרמלנחושתן]

Very interesting! Thank you so much for your in-depth analysis

[@storiesofart]

My pleasure! Please share it with whomever might be interested.

[@UnDiscoveredDidi]

Thanks! Another great reason to visit beloved city of Brugge 😍

[@storiesofart]

And what a great place it is!

[@PeterDiMeo]

Wonderful video, subscribed! Van Eyck has been a favorite of mine for a long time, so good to see such in-depth videos about his life and work.

[@storiesofart]

Thanks! There are many more to come

[@dixirose111]

@@storiesofart Yay!

[@ShweMyaukMyauk]

Great video again...thanks for the info, another watermelon wings on Gabriel. The folds on the virgin’s red robe....wow

[@storiesofart]

It is almost worth the trip to Brugge all by itself.

[@mirellavanni3720]

That was really interesting, thank you. Explained extremely well.

[@storiesofart]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@janeth4121]

Great video, Van Eyck is one of my favorite painters

[@storiesofart]

Same here!

[@steveparsons5433]

Exquisitely detailed artwork benefits from such a detailed explanation!

[@storiesofart]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@malinkaloczy6635]

Really enjoy your channel! Studied History of arts a long timeago - so mutch to find out and discover! Happy to be a subscriber😄

[@storiesofart]

Thank you very much! and welcome aboard!

[@stevenleslie8557]

New subscriber here. Great presentation. Van Eyck is one of my favorite painters. I wonder how many Italian masters went to the low countries to see his work in this time period.

[@storiesofart]

Ah Good question. Not many that we know of. Some northern artists went south though. Van der Goes for instance. His work ended up in Florence and definitely influenced a lot of painters there

[@thegoldenhailmary773]

Magnificent painting. Have loved it for years and now I have even a greater appreciation! Thank You! I was in Brugge so many years ago and had no idea it was there. Went to see Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. Enjoyed the French fries in the town square.

[@storiesofart]

It's a great place isn't it?

[@walterverbeeck6929]

PLEASE stop calling it 'French' fries, the fries are invented in Belgium! Those damned US soldiers who thought they still where in France, while they were eating fries in the French speaking part of Belgium.

[@MandelTräd]

Fisrt of, lovley video. I have studied Jan van Eyck a bit as a historian, but mostly the "Arnolfini Portrait" and the Ghent Altarpiece. Actually as part of a project on dr. Johan Huizinga. Anyways, now I know a little more about Joris van der Paele and his portrait. On the camels of the capitals, in older Christianity, the camel represents the pilgrimage and faith. The camel walks long way without water, but it knows that there is always water to come. This Isidore of Seville writes is a sign of the essence of faith from G-d. This is in the 7th century I believe. I don't know why they would be on the pillars of a church because of this. It is just something I noted. When it comes to the Parrot I think your analysis is good. I have read a bit on the usage of parrots in art, and in culture. Mostly about the Romans, a former classmate of mine wrote a very good paper on it. Alas, it is only available in Swedish. Anyways, parrots have very varied usage as symbols. But according to again Isidore of Seville the parrot did represent the supremacy of the Roman Empire as they were "created to utter words such as "ave" by nature". This I really don't understand how to fit into the whole symbolism of the piece. Maybe the parrot is a double symbol that represents Rome and Joris's employment to Boniface IX as well as paradise?

[@mattneale3128]

Excellent video, thanks

[@storiesofart]

Thanks! there are more to come!

[@PyronsLair]

Man I love your videos... please keep going!

[@storiesofart]

Thanks, will do!

[@aobarts]

Thanks! Amazing content! I love listening to this kind of explanations :) A suggestion for a video subject is to talk about compositions and symbolism in the old masters paintings :)

[@storiesofart]

Great suggestion!

[@agamemnonpadar5706]

Love your channel. Not only that it is very interesting, but you are also an excellent storyteller. All best from Germany. Wish you a good and healthy 2021.

[@storiesofart]

Thank You! And a happy new year to you

[@uffa00001]

18:53 I know this seems daring, but the two figures might be, at the left Hercules and Cacus (Hercules also has the "signature" golden club) and as far as the figure to the right is concerned, as Hercules is on the left, this could also be Hercules killing the Nemean lion, rather than Sanson. I understand a pagan subject would not fit well inside this kind of work, but in Italy the mixing of revisited pagan symbols in religious works is not unheard of. Images of Hercules had, in the ancient world, an apotropaic function, so this might be the meaning. Also, the setting of a sacra conversazione is not usually a church (neither in this case IMHO) but a fantasy sort of architecture. Italian artists of the time were putting ancient decorations (grottesche) on the walls of this kind of paintings, and so van Eyck might have chosen to pepper up the setting with some ancient subject as well.

[@santiagorodriguez5792]

Arggh! I was in Brugges once for a day and sadly did not go to any museums....and this is while I was living in Aachen when i was going to school. Now I Really have to go again.....

[@storiesofart]

Yes I think you do. But it is not a bad idea anyway. Great chocolate, great beer, great food, Brilliant painting.

[@rjprivate]

Good video, well made

[@storiesofart]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@vvvhhhhhbb]

Do not compare artists. An artist has their own style, and visions. Jan was brilliant. His style was colorful and inspiring. Other artists just have a different approach.

[@DavidStoupakis1]

that was great!

[@storiesofart]

thanks!

[@Tararu3500]

Subscribed. I was fortunate enough to visit the stupendous Ghent exhibition in February.

[@storiesofart]

You were lucky, the virus made me miss it. And thanks for subscribing!

[@Stadtpark90]

I love your videos. I only wished we had resolution in 4K, as it is a channel about art. Maybe you could one day go back and make Directors Cut versions… - or are the pictures you used in less than 4K resolution anyway?

[@momans5466]

Looking and understanding are two different things 😉

[@storiesofart]

So true!

[@j0nnyism]

Imagine how impressed the patron George must’ve been to see himself in this masterpiece.

[@easytiger-bg1ot]

thank you for the videos over the lockdown , they have been great. the hands in van eyck pictures seem very small . is this a sign of nobility that only peasants working in the field had big hands. please keep the videos coming , have you done one on rubens samson and delilah. keep safe my friend.

[@storiesofart]

Samson and Delilah, that is a good idea! About Van Eyck's hands: Maybe you are on to something. Delicate hands for delicate people. Thanks for that!

[@Lousysalsero]

Great job, excellent, and I enjoyed your fluent English too (though you're a Dutchman, right)? I've been studying Van Eyck's The Mystic Lamb lately, now on display in Ghent, where there is a major exhibition of about half the works we still have by Van Eyck, until April 2020 (a 'MUST' for art lovers the world over). May I point out that camels were not indigenous to these northern parts and that Van Eyck (among his other jobs and merits) also worked as a diplomat (and spy?) and went on several 'secret' missions to southern Europe and possibly the Middle East for his patron, the count of Flanders, and could have seen these and sketched camels himself there, as well as palm trees an other exotic things. Also, it seems that there now has been a medical study that has identified the nature of the disease of Kanunnik Van der Paele simply by analysing the precise way of painting by Van Eyck. Studies by qualified scientists are proving that Van Eyck pinpointed natural and physiological processes in his works, so that he too had scientific knowledge (gained on an experimental basis) that was incredible for a man of his time, the 1400s! He must have been a true uomo universale. Only yesterday I heard a university professor say that in comparison to Van Eyck's ability to render detail, the paintings of Fra Angelico (a much admired contemporary) and other Italians seems like the work of children...

[@storiesofart]

He is brilliant isn't he? I hear the exhibition in Ghent is really good as well. And do you remember just a few decades ago he and his followers were called 'primitives'. Anyway, thanks for the compliment and what do you think about the lambs 'new' face?

[@Lousysalsero]

@@storiesofart There is so much to admire and to remark that you simply don't know where to start, Carel. Also, I have never attended so many lectures by people specialising on Van Eyck as these last few weeks. Sadly, I missed the 'nocturne' yesterday evening in the museum, though I am a (new) member of the "Friends of the MSK museum", so I should have known. To make the exhibition a success, about 250 000 people should visit Ghent, but that remains to be seen... About half the works by Van Eyck are in Ghent now, save some very precious pieces, like Man with red turban etc. The term 'primitive' was not used in our present-day meaning (it was coined in the 1800s). It seems that even leading people from the cathedral hierarchy and others feel uneasy and confronted with their own conscience when looking into these eyes of the lamb, "Ze zijn er niet goed van", but placing the eyes ('unrealistically') like a man's instead of sideways, was already customary when depicting Christ before Van Eyck (there are several examples of this). Very fascinating. arresting even. Apparently quite a debate has sprung up on the internet about this, with people asserting that cleaning the painting was not a good move, but for me it goes without saying that the original is always better than later 'improvements' :-) . Van Eyck was the (hyper) realist in the 'early Netherlandish painting', but Rogier Van der Weyden captured more of the psychology of the people and could render this convincingly. Silly questions are sometimes asked, even on national TV, like whether Van Eyck was Flemish or Dutch (from Bergeyck). He was neither; he belongs to our common heritage of the Low Countries, and though he lived in Bruges part of his life, he came from the principality of Liège. On the website closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be/ you can see that the reflection in the eyes of 'Adam' is meant to come from the window in the chapel where it was destined to be, whereas 'Eve' (with her back to the window) does not have this reflection... Talking about attention to detail... in the 1400s!

[@DeleynGunter]

You are talking about the findings by de dermatologist 't Kindt who indicates benign and maybe not so benign tumours on Van der Pael's face. And I do agree that the paintings of Fra Angelico seem 'cheap' in comparison to Van Eyck.

[@bruce9635]

The bishops mitre is exquisite and the cross. Did they in actuality have such fine jewels and pearls?

[@storiesofart]

Yes they did, although Van Eyck might have exaggerated the size of the jewels a bit. I actually made a video on one of these crosses.kzbin.info/www/bejne/joq5f6uIgrSAsLs

[@galleryguide9913]

Have to agree that the painting is one of the greatest of Van Eyck's oeuvre. A few little things; the job of a canon is to sing the Divine Office consisting of the 8 canonical hours (matins, laudes, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline as monks and nuns still do in traditional monastic orders), throughout the day and night in addition to mass. Although it is possible there were 7 daily masses in the church if not more, he would have been required only to attend one of them which would have been the high mass sung after the office of terce sometime around 10am at that period. The images of Adam and Eve carved on the throne were to emphasize that in the Middle Ages Jesus and Mary were considered the new Adam and New Eve who repaired the damage of Original Sin. The throne occupies the place of the altar in a church as Mary is regarded symbolically as the altar. The white cloth Jesus sits on emphasizes the ideas since it recalls the corporal, which is a square piece of linen the the priest places the consecrated Host during mass, thus Mary becomes the altar itself in the vision that the canon is experiencing in the painting.

[@storiesofart]

Thanks for that!

[@MSLIB]

Is there any chance of getting captioning?

[@storiesofart]

I hope so, there are some kinks in the automatic captioning

[@migueljosemaxit8529]

Dr Ian Dequeker ,from Lovaina,published a study of this work from a medical point of view,and concluded , and was probably correct, that canon van der Pale suffered of temporal arteritis, a disease unknown at that times.Reading his arguments is as interesting as the conference above..His paper can be found CMA Journal 1436. 1981;124.1597-8

[@piushalg8175]

The connection between Mary and Eve is that Mary is also called the second Eve. And in the picture the whole story of sin and salvation and of course the important role of the virgin is told.

[@mondayschild3493]

Canon van der paele looks the same as Cardinal Niccolò Albergati in another Van Eyck painting who scholars think it might be Henry Beaufort as the sitter?

[@normanstratford9329]

The portrait of the virgin is slightly stylistically painted, though as you say the priest has been painted with a realism. Holbein is good at portraits.

[@storiesofart]

He is. I'll do a video on him soon

[@joseffinat966]

Ben van mening geef God,zoon,geest wat van God is zijn kroon 👑 op al zijn SCHEPPING

[@wooblann]

Very illuminating. Thank you. The Church of St. Donatian at Bruges was destroyed by the French revolutionary army in 1799.

[@storiesofart]

Yes it was.

[@OaksArm]

I have my suspicions that Van Eyck was simply incapable of an accidental blur. My vote is that it’s a self-portrait in the Saint’s armor.

[@storiesofart]

I agree

[@TheErnesto1966]

Fresco painting should be compare against other fresco techniques by other Masters and not against oil painting for the sake of enhance one and look down on the other. Each material has it' own advantage and disadvantage. it is of the artist skill to maximize the potential of each medium. (Video is great in details)

[@storiesofart]

You are right. And they also tried to achieve something very different in their work. Still it is interesting to see how different two paintings of the same subject can be, don't you think?

[@nomebear]

The wealthy Canon suffered from polymyalgia rheumatica, giant cell arteritis, which is evident in the bulging arteries on his temple, and the obviously stiff neck. It's a genetic disease that is common amongst Scandinavian heritage people. Today, it's easily treated with steroids. People suffering with it have cluster headaches, blurred vision, sore and stiff joints, and suffer a great deal.

[@suzy452003]

👌❤

[@storiesofart]

Thanks!

[@janloose8016]

The parrot Jesus is holding in his hand was an gift Van Der Paele received from the pope when he left Rome to come back to Brugge. It was a bird that originated from somewhere in Asia and was given to the pope as a present as well. Such was the appreciation the pope had for his excellent secretary. The piece of cloth VDP is using to protect his book of hours is actually a bag most probably made out of the finest leather available. The book was put in the bag to protect it from weather and hung from the belt when he went to church or came back. Under his hands you see a chord to which is attached a lead weight, to prevent the book from slipping from the belt, and it acted as a kind of counterweight. The reason why Jesus is portraited as a naked child : to show that he is of the male gender. Also note that artist never depicted a circumcised child, which Jesus really was : he was a Jew and all Jew males were/are circumcised. Much more could be said about this painting, I received an explanation for over three quarters of an hour by one of Bruges' leading experts on Jan van Eyck. Zeer goede video, doe zo voort. Jan Loose

[@scottgibbons2904]

Sidenote: why in ancient paintings of the holy family is the Christ child almost always portrayed without clothing?

[@migueljosemaxit8529]

The captions are horrible.

[@DeleynGunter]

It is a beautiful painting. But according to me, it doesn't compare to the Ghent Altarpiece. But I am a Ghentian. so I am prejudiced. But next to the altarpiece the painting by Rogier Vanderweyden 'the taking of the cross' in Madrid is even more fabulous.

[@storiesofart]

Well of course, nothing compares to the Ghent Altar. It will take a lot more than one short video to do it justice though.

[@jaclew9628]

I wonder why 6 thumbs down? Why any thumbs down?

[@storiesofart]

Who knows, but I am glad you liked it!

[@gypsysnickerdoodle4354]

Great work But it sounds like the speaker needs to burp

[@storiesofart]

I do? Sorry about that (burp)

[@francescaemc2]

Why would you compare Fra Angelico's Annunciation -- with is tempera on wet plaster in a discussion on oil painting by Jan van Eyck. It's beyond apples and oranges It's idiotic. It is like comparing Dante Alighieri to Luther.

[@barbleigh5571]

Why does it bother me so much that Mary’s left hand is disproportionately small compared to the size of her face and her right hand?

[@storiesofart]

I don't know. Why is that?

[@s.kertanguy8433]

St George had already a wedding ring or the model forgot to take his off.

[@joseffinat966]

Hou ook Parijs in de gaten daar broeit het ook of liever sla die ook maar over Waldemar 😮 even in herinnering wat deze Paus zelf heeft gezegd dus niet vergeten en wat dat inhoudt hopelijk hebben vele mensen ook deze gedachte,hou ook het liedje van de songfestival waar Israël heeft gewonnen met een vreemde liedje 🐓🐔

[@j0nnyism]

And art experts used to call this “northern primitivism”. They believed that this was somehow lesser to the Italian masters. What nonsense

[@joseffinat966]

Moet even lachgen, kijk heel goed naar zijn puntige oor met een plukje haar als een klein duveltje die in zijn oor fluisterde ,ook in de zogenaamde gestolen schilderij zie je kleine figuurtjes / gezichtjes in de bomen daar is van Eyck heel goed in het symboliseren ervan, Adona Als uit Eyck Dus Adona / Madonna ( Adio ( A-D-i-O ? Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do ( ADO

[@gobbagu]

that's not the ghent altarpiece, c'mon lol

[@storiesofart]

Clearly

[@xmaseveeve5259]

The person in white, is blind.

[@DavidS1164]

Annoyingly heavy Dutch accent. Kind of hard to keep on listening. Better work on it. 👎🏻

[@s.kertanguy8433]

The animal head in Jesus hands looks more as a small monkey than a parrot ??

[@sooryasankar2549]

This is not how you do a documentary, you're constant stuttering is a pain , you need to do more research and make a script before making such videos please note

[@Tomzupp]

Such a painter shouldn't paint all faces as if they belong to corpses.

[@storiesofart]

I never heard that opinion before

[@Tomzupp]

@@storiesofart I'm a teacher by profession. I notice, that exceedingly technically oriented students neglect the emotional part of things and also don't understand it. I don't know much about van Eyck, but I studied sculpting for a few years. Emotional content is unconsciously poured in the form. Exceeding technicality prevents this, also poses questions about this part of the artist. What do you think?