National Gallery London

1. National Gallery, London Selected Masterpieces All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners. Available free for non-commercial, Educational and personal use. First created 28 Dec 2017. Version 1.0 - 1 Feb 2018. Daperro. London.

2. Perfectly reflected reality Arnolfini Portrait 1434. 82x60 cm. Oil on Panel. Jan Van Eyck

3. The Arnolfini Wedding Most people are often surprised, when they see the painting for the first time because of its small size, about the size of a bathroom mirror. We see a rather ugly man with a big hat holding the hand of a woman, who looks like that she is pregnant, with strange hair style and headdress, in a small bedroom. We start to wonder why this is a masterpiece. This is because we look at the painting through our modern eyes and judge it by aesthetics alone. We ignore the historical context in which it was painted. The Arnolfini Marriage.1434. 82x60 cm. Oil on Panel. Jan Van Eyck The National Gallery, London.

4. The Historical Context Michelangelo 1475-1564 Da Vinci 1452-1519 Campin1375-1444 Van Eyck 1390-1441 Robert Campin, who also painted in similar way is included in above for comparison. When van Eyck painted the Arnolfini Marriage, it was painted over 70 years before Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's Sistine chapel. Van Eyck’s painting look far more true to life than his contemporaries in Italy, as illustrated by the portrait of St Paul by Masaccio on the right a few years before the Marriage of Arnolfini. San Paol. 1426. Masaccio. Italian. Museo Nazionale. Pisa. Giovanna Cenami, 1434.

5. Arnolfini Portrait Arnolfini was involved in the garment trades. From the raw materials that went into their garments. It is plain to see how important the Flanders was as a trading hub of northern Europe, with links to the Eastern Europe, England, the Baltics states and the Mediterranean Europe. It also shows how wealthy the Flanders was.

6. Mr Arnolfini Portrait

7. The Display of Wealth Giovanni Arnolfiniwas a rich garment merchant from Lucca, Italy. The lady was once thought to be Giovanna Cenami, daughter of a prominent Italian financier. The entire painting is filled with objects of wealth. Details. Apple on the window ledge and oranges on the table. The house was built with bricks, as can be seen from the wall shown outside the window. Underneath the window, with oranges that could only have come from southern European. The couple are opulently dressed in fur and expensive white ermine. The Turkish carpet on the floor, the hangings on the bed, the mirror and the chandelier were all items of luxury. The Arnolfini Portrait. 1434. Jan Van Eyck. Details. Fur on Arnolfini’s cloth. Fur lining on Cenami’ cloth. Turkey carpet on the floor.

8. Mrs Arnolfini Portrait

9. Allegory & Cultural Symbols Allegory is used by painters to represent abstract concepts like bravery, faith or royalty. Religious symbols can be found littered in the painting; apples as fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, the Carving of St Margaret patron saint of childbirth and Prayer beads. In contrast, secular symbols were also used; a dog for fidelity, a bed for the consummation of marriage, the blue sleeves & the white lining worn by the lady denote purity, clogs cast away representing the abandoning of daily chores on this solemn occasion. Mirror on the wall. Giovanna’s clogs Chandelier Dog Giovanni’s clogs

10. Arnolfini Portrait The dog for fidelity

11. Was it a Marriage? The painting tells us this was an important occasion. Above the mirror, van Eyck wrote “Johannes de Eyck fuit hic 1434” (van Eyck was here) as witness to the occasion. So if this was a marriage, then why were only four persons present, two of whom only shown in the reflection on the mirror? Shouldn’t we expect more people? In the 15th Century it was customary for the couple to exchange vows before marriage; an engagement. The painting depicts the moment when Arnolfini took the hand of his bride and raised his left hand, as he betrothed (vowed to marry) his future wife. In fact, the painting was thought to be the Betrothal between Arnolfini and Cenami. Giovanni Arnolfini, also painted by van Eyck. Giovanna Cenami? Arnlfini became a councillor to the Duke of Burgundy and was knighted in 1462. He died in 1472 in Brugge, 38 years after the painting (and two years before the birth of Michelangelo). The couple perished childless, with no evidence that they had raised any children. In 1470, Arnolfini was sued by a woman, who wanted jewellery that he had given her, returned to her. She also sought a pension and several houses that she had been promised. Jan van Eyck died seven years after he painted this picture. He is now widely recognized as one of the greatest painters who ever lived.

12. Mystery deepened Arnolfini’s first undocumented wife CostanzaTrenta, who died in Feb 1433. Koster’s strongest interpretation is based on the two candles on the chandelier. One burning candle above Arnolfini and a burn out candle with dried wax above his wife. The interpretation of the painting changes from a betrothal to a memorial of his dead wife. Recently new interpretations of the paintings has come to light. A chance discovery in 1997 that Arnolfini married his wife Jeanne Cenami in 1447, 13 years after painting was painted. According to Margaret Koster the painting is a memorial depiction of Burn out candle holder with wax on its surface.

13. Venus and Mars This Venus is quite different from the Venus in the Birth of Venus & in Primavera painted by the same painter earlier. She is pensive and elegant. 1482. Tempera on panel. 69x173 cm. Sandro Botticelli.

14. Venus and Mars The painting depicted Venus (the goddess of love) and Mars (the god of war). The painting was probably commissioned by the Vespucci family of Florence, as suggested by the a hive of wasps painted on the upper right corner of the painting. There were four baby satyrs playing with Mars’ armours and lance. One was blowing a conch shell in his ear in an effort to wake him up. This is the only Botticelli’s mythological paintings, that is outside of Italy.

15. Venus is the personalisation of love Venus had an affair with Mars. In the painting, she was fully dressed with her hair well set. She was alert with her dress fell softly in folds, espouses her body. As Ficino put it “Venus seems to master and pacify Mars but Mars never masters Venus.” Did you noticed that Venus’ right leg is missing?

16. Playing Baby Satyr Baby satyrs playing with the lance and helmet.

18. Playing Baby Satyr Baby satyrs blowing a conch shell.

19. Mars is the personalisation of war On the hand, Mars was naked and fell into a deep sleep, unaware of all the noises and the baby satyrs playing around him. An unimpressive Mars contrasted with a spirited and pensive Venus.

20. Not a hair out of place

21. Playing Baby Satyr

22. Love over war The painting carried a message of “the power of Love over War”. It was an advice to a newly wedded couple.

23. Cassoni One give away on the purpose of the painting, was its elongated format, which suggested the painting was probably mounted on a dowry chest, called a Cassoni.

24. The Virgin of the Rock 1495-1508. Oil on wood. 190x120 cm. Leonardo da Vinci.

25. There are two versions of the painting one in Paris and the other in London

26. The Paris Version The two paintings are nearly identical, with obvious differences. The Paris version is the older, maybe by as many as 25 years When the Paris version was nearly finished, there was a dispute about payment. Leonardo sold the Paris version to ‘another buyer’. The London painting was painted to fulfil the original contract. There are several unusual features in the painting :- Why are they in a cave? Why is St John the Baptist with the Virgin Mary and not baby Jesus? Why is the angel pointing to St John the Baptist in the Paris version not in the London version? Virgin of the Rocks. 1483-1485. Musee du Louvre, Paris.

27. An interpretation by James Kettlewell. Why is St John the Baptist with the Virgin Mary and not baby Jesus? By Immaculate Conception The painting is about the Immaculate Conception (born without the Original Sin) of the Virgin Mary. Some Catholic argued that both St John and Mary were born by Immaculate Conception but they are not divine. So they belong together. Baby Jesus and the angel are grouped together as they are divine. Why is the angel pointing to St John the Baptist (Paris painting)? The angel is pointing out that it is about St John, who was born by Immaculate Conception. By implication Virgin Mary must also be born by Immaculate Conception. Divine Virgin of the Rocks (Detail). 1483-1485. Musee du Louvre, Paris. Edited for fading.

28. The Two Angels of the Rocks The 1498 angel. The 1483 angel. The 1483 angel looks out of the canvas to the viewer. The 1498 angel looks forward. The 1495 angel was painted with much stronger contrast. The eyelids of the angels are different. On the 1483 angel just below on the corner of the eye is a single teardrop or a water drop on the upper corner of her check.

29. The London Version In the London version and the Paris version is that the angel no longer points to St John the Baptist and no longer looks toward the viewer. In 1483, Vatican gave support to the idea of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary. So there no need to point out St John’s Immaculate Conception. So why are they in a cave? There are many suggestion as why the painting was set in the cave, but none of these are very convincing. However, it was specified in the contract that the painting should include “the mountains and rocks to be worked in oil”. Virgin of the Rocks. 1495-1499 & 1506-08. National Gallery, London.

30. A speculation on the cave Recently, I came across another Virgin of the Rocks. It was the Madonna of the Cavern in Covadonga, Asturias in Spain. Covadonga is an Asturian word meaning “Cavern of the Lady”. Covadonga is also a significant Christian site. For it was here in 722 AD that the Spanish Christians stopped the Islamic Moors expansion in Spain, by winning an important battle here. It is often considered to be the start of the 770-year effort to expel Muslim rulers from Spain during the Reconquista. The importance of Covadonga was underlined by Pope John Paul II calling Convadonga “one of the foundation stones of Christian Europe.” Would this be the reason that provided the setting in Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks?

31. Virgin of the Rocks (Detail). 1495-1499 & 1506-08. National Gallery, London.

32. The Ambassadors 1533. Oil on oak. 204x210 cm. Hans Holbein.

34. The Ambassadors Jean de Dinteville, an aristocrat from the French nobility and well connected to the French court. He would have educated in mathematic, music and astronomy. He may even familiar with humanist ideas spreading throughout Europe at the time. He was the French ambassador in London.

35. The Ambassadors On the right is the medallion, by which the identify of the French ambassador, Jean de Dinteville was discovered. Below is the dragger on which the age Jean de Dinteville was inscribed, 29. Holbein frequently painted the age of his sitters on their portraits.

36. The Ambassadors Georges de Selve, bishop of Lavour. Why is the ambassador’s face so lack of emotion?

37. The Ambassadors The Ambassadors’ Gaze John Berger, the art critic has noticed that there is something unusual about the gaze of these ambassadors. "There is in their gaze and their stances a curious lack of expectations of any recognition. It is as though in principle their worth cannot be recognized by others. They look as though they are looking at something of which they are not part." The utter lack of emotions on their faces was unusual. Their portrait shared with other official portraits of head of states were designed to project authority and power, demanding our respects. They were part of the world and yet they stood aloft from all of us, keeping their distances.

38. The Ambassadors Just under his arm, the age of Georges de Selve, 24, was written on the book. The oriental carpet was too precious to be used on the floor. It may come from Anatolia (modern turkey).

39. The Ambassadors Georges de Selve dressed more moderate as he was in the cleric but nevertheless in fine clothing. The robe he was wearing could indicate that he was trained and practiced in the legal profession. Selve came from a merchant family, which more likely to be affected by the new maritime trades.

40. The Ambassadors A celestial sphere on the top shelf together with the instruments of navigation and time keeping. This could be a reference to the knowledge or the background of the two men. Holbein made this sort of representational comments on his sitters before. Alternatively, it was a comment on the age of exploration and their family connection on overseas trade, as de Selve came from a family of merchants. The top shelf is about the heaven.

41. The Ambassadors On the top shelf (from the left), a cylindrical sundial, a quadrant to measure altitude, a dial to measure angles, a simple quadrant, a polyhedral sundial to tell time for several places at the same time.

42. The Ambassadors The terrestrial globe on the bottom shelf, with reference to Dinteville’s family estate.

43. The Ambassadors This was the hymn book of Martin Luther, who started the Reformation movement against the Catholic church for its corrupted practices. Holbein was sympathetic to the cause of reform (just as Erasmus was).

44. The Ambassadors The lute had a broken string. It was a classic sign of discord. So what was the discord? Given the Lutheran hymn book and Holbein (possibly Dinteville as well) humanist leaning, It could be a comment about the discord within the Christianity, between the Catholic and the Reformation movement.

45. The Ambassadors The mysterious object on the foreground of the painting is an anamorphic skull. It is a comments on our own mortality, our own death. It is a Vanitas, a comment that all our earthly wealth and power would not matter any more as our existence ceased. This completes the stack of three different worlds from the top shelf to the floor - the heaven, the living world and the underworld.

46. The Ambassadors This is the hidden face of death. This image is the rectified image of the highly distorted skull on the painting. This image can be reconstructed by placing a camera on the edge of the painting close to the surface.

47. The Ambassadors The transformation of the skull? This may be the way Holbein used to paint the highly distorted skull. First Holbein would draw a grid on normal looking skull. Then the grid is transformed onto the painting or an intermediate medium distorted. Finally using the distorted grid the skull was repainted.

48. The Ambassadors Hiding at the edge of the painting, revealed by the curtain is a crucifix, a reminder of Christianity truth.

49. The Supper at Emmaus 1601. Oil on canvas. 141x196.2 cm. Michelangelo Mersisi Caravaggio.

50. The Supper at Emmaus. c1601. National Gallery, London