Northern Renaissance: The Secular Portrait

The Northern Renaissance
The Secular Portrait

So far we have seen portraits of individuals praying piously in the company of Saints
— but what about selfies?

Jean Hey (Master of Moulins), Portrait of Margaret of
Austria, 1490
Hans Memling, Portrait of a Young Man, c. 1482
While most Flemish portraits depicted donors in pious prayer as part of a religious
diptych, the independent “secular portrait” emerged as a popular genre in the
Netherlands and Italy in the 15th century

Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned
with Angels and Prophets, c.
1280-1290
In the middle ages, individuals were not “important” enough to be included in art

Hans Memling, Diptych of Martin Von Nieuwenhove, 1487
Oil on panel, Municipal Museums, Bruges
But during the Renaissance wealthy patrons began to commission portraits to
memorialize their accomplishments and to express their sense of pride and self-
worth
Hey, I’m
somebody
important!

Portraits in the Renaissance were not like our “selfies” today. People didn’t smile
for the camera or show themselves partying like a rock star

Austria, 1490
Instead, they portrayed themselves according to social norms regarding proper
behavior

Austria, 1490
Typical characteristics of Flemish portraiture include realistic detail in the treatment
of surfaces and textures

Austria, 1490
Sitters are usually dressed in expensive clothing to indicate their wealth; in these two
portraits we see rich velvets, furs, and expensive jewelry

Austria, 1490
They are typically posed in a 3/4 view (neither directly frontal, or in profile), and Their
hands are often included in the picture, communicating self-possession and poise

Austria, 1490
Their facial expressions are typically solemn and serene, communicating
seriousness, and and piety

Austria, 1490
The sitter is often depicted against a landscape setting that places them in a
particular time and place (the landscape was probably their property, so it would
have signified their vast wealth)

Austria, 1490
The emphasis is upon a proud sense of self worth and accomplishment, as well as
an appropriately pious and solemn demeanor. These were images that were
intended to communicate a social persona that suited the expectations the time
period

Jan Van Eyck
Portrait of Jan de Leeuw, c. 1436
Web Gallery of Art
Jan Van Eyck was sought after as a portrait painter

Jan Van Eyck
Portrait of Jan de Leeuw, c. 1436
Web Gallery of Art
This one depicts a goldsmith, who proudly shows off one of his products

Jan Van Eyck, Portrait of
Giovanni Arnolfini and his
Wife, 1434
Van Eyck’s most celebrated portrait is this one, representing Giovanni Arnolfini, and
Italian merchant stationed in Bruges, and his wife

The painting is smaller than you think, measuring just 32.4 inches tall

Wife, 1434
And it is unusual, because it is a full-length double portrait, rather than a bust in ¾
view which was more the norm

Wife, 1434
The couple is depicted in a well-furnished bedroom chamber, dressed in expensive
fabrics (in spite of the warm weather indicated by the view out the window)

Wife, 1434
Arnolfini is dressed in expensive furs, and his wife wears dress with fur cuffs, and
elaborate decorative tufting

Wife, 1434
Other signs of the couple’s wealth can be seen in the oranges on the windowsill
(likely imported from a warmer climate), and the Persian carpet on the floor (another
expensive imported item), as well as the mirror and elaborate brass chandelier

The realistic detail in this painting is astonishing (all the more so, given the small size
of the panel)

Van Eyck renders surface textures so convincingly we can almost feel them wit
fingers, while the subtlety of the light passing through the window seems so rea
can almost feel the warmth

Wife, 1434
Equally impressive is the convincing sense of space that Van Eyck creates in his
rendering of the room

Remember the inconsistencies in Campin’s interior, where the table and floor tilt up,
and the perspective is wrong

Wife, 1434
Van Eyck used a technique called empirical perspective, which means that it was
based on observation, rather than the mathematically exact science of linear
perspective that Italian artists were using at this time

Empirical perspective is similar to the technique of “sighting and angling” that
students learn in drawing classes. It can help create a convincing illusion of space,
but cannot compete with the mathematically exact science of perspective that was
developed by Italian artists at this time

Wife, 1434
Van Eyck’s painting is filled with disguised symbols

The dog was a well known symbol of
fidelity (and, since it was a rare breed,
was also a symbol of wealth)

The removed clogs may allude to a
sacred event taking place

The oranges on the windowsill allude to
the family’s wealth, but they may also
symbolize the purity and innocence
that reigned in Paradise before the Fall,
and in Italy they were a symbol of
fecundity and marriage

The chandelier is expensive, but there
is only one candle burning, which may
symbolize the eye of God, or it may be
a reference to Flemish nuptial rituals

The carved bedpost represents St.
Margaret, patron saint of childbirth, and
the whiskbroom was a symbol of
domestic virtues.

One of the most remarkable features of
the painting is the convex mirror on the
back wall

It shows a reflection of the room in reverse, and reveals two figures in the
doorway – likely the artist and his assistant

Van Eyck signed the wall above the mirror in florid Gothic script: “Van Eyck was
here.”

Could this be a wedding portrait?
Fred Hartsook, Leonard and Rose Hessel, Wedding Portrait, 1915
Anaheim Public Library
These “clues” have led scholars to conclude that the portrait was made to record
the Arnolfini’s wedding ceremony, and that Van Eyck served as a “witness”

And the painting was made as a kind of “certificate” documenting the legal
proceeding

Northern Renaissance: The Secular Portrait

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Northern Renaissance: The Secular Portrait