A painting a day · No. 1 of 38
The Arnolfini Portrait
Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441)
1434 · Oil on oak panel · The National Gallery, London
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The story
An Italian merchant from Lucca, probably Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini, and a woman stand in a room in Bruges. Van Eyck was one of the first painters to show what oil paint could do: thin, glassy layers that make fur, brass and glass look real.
Look closer
- The round mirror on the back wall shows the couple from behind and two more people in the doorway — perhaps the painter himself.
- Above the mirror he signed it like graffiti: 'Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434' — 'Jan van Eyck was here'.
- One candle burns in the chandelier, in broad daylight.
Did you know
She is probably not pregnant. The full, gathered dress was simply the fashion. The National Gallery bought the painting in 1842.
Why we can show it
Jan van Eyck died in 1441. UK copyright lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, so even under today’s rules this painting would have been free for anyone to show since 1512. The photograph is a faithful copy of a flat work, which creates no new copyright. We do not store the picture: it comes from Wikimedia Commons each time it is needed. More on this.