Jan van Eyck is a Flemish artist, a prominent representative of Northern Renaissance painting. Wanting to enhance the realism of his paintings, he and his brother came up with oil paints.
Biography: early years
Jan van Eyck was born in the town of Maaseik, now it is the territory of the modern Netherlands. The year of his birth is not known exactly. Presumably he was born in 1390. His older brother Hubert was also an artist. In many ways, it was he who influenced the formation of Jan as a painter. Hubert instilled in him a love of drawing. He also taught him the first lesson in painting. Subsequently, the van Eyck brothers worked together for a long time, painting the altars in cathedrals.
It is also known that Jan at the beginning of his career made miniatures with biblical scenes for Duke Johann of Bavaria. They became one of his first works, therefore, they were made in the medieval tradition.
Creation
In 1424 he moved from The Hague to Flanders (the territory of modern Belgium). His brother Hubert lived there. Two years later, he died, leaving unfinished painting of the Ghent altar. In 1432, Jan completed this polyptych, which was named "The Lamb of God". The altar consisted of 12 composite panels, of which 8 are painted on both sides, since these are doors. Jan portrayed God the Father, the Holy Virgin, angels playing music. For the first time in Northern European painting, the artist placed in the foreground two nude figures - Adam and Eve
In Flanders, Jan van Eyck settled first in Lille and then in Bruges. He entered the service of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, but as a valet, not an artist. In fact, he was rather acting as a confidant. So, Yang made secret trips to find a suitable wife for the duke. Presumably, it was then that several portraits of noble maidens for marriage were painted. One of these journeys takes Jan to Lisbon, and the duke eventually married a Portuguese princess.
Jan van Eyck made a great contribution to painting. It was to him that artists owe the appearance of oil paints. Attempts to mix coloring pigments with oil were made before van Eyck, but it was he who managed to find the right proportions. The new painting technique has become widespread throughout Europe.
Van Eyck's innovation consisted in the fact that he masterfully mixed paints, achieving different shades of color, which he then successively applied to the canvas in thin layers. This technique made it possible to perfectly convey the folds of matter and the brilliance of the jewelry, as well as the splendor of the forms of the models that the painter depicted without embellishment. Especially he was able to convey the expression on his face.
Among the famous paintings by Jan van Eyck:
- "Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple";
- Our Lady of Chancellor Rolen;
- "The Appearance of an Angel to Myrrh-Bearing Wives";
- "Madonna in the Church".
The painter died in 1441 in Bruges.
