All Portraits by Man Who Altered Course of Art History United For First Time
- Editor OGN Daily
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An upcoming exhibition in London brings together all of the surviving Jan van Eyck’s 15th-century portraits, from collections across Europe.
Before the Renaissance, most artists’ depictions of people weren’t particularly lifelike and tended to have exaggerated, flat features. “Van Eyck’s were the first faces that were genuinely lifelike,” says the London Times. “These were not just icons; they were humans. Were the couple from the Arnolfini Portrait, probably his most famous such work, to pass you in the street, you would have no trouble recognizing them.”
The priceless portrait is on display at London's National Gallery, and the museum's website says that this painting of a married couple, created by Jan van Eyck in 1434, “must be one of the most famous and intriguing paintings in the world.” The figure on the left is believed to be Giovanni di Nicolao di Arnolfini, an Italian merchant, who is holding hands with his pregnant wife, clothed in a vibrant green gown. The painting was revolutionary in its extraordinary details and masterful techniques. Art historian Ernst Gombrich once called the Arnolfini Portrait “a simple corner of the real world … fixed on to a panel as if by magic.”
Born in what is Belgium today, around the 1390s, van Eyck is known as the father of oil painting. Now, all nine of van Eyck’s surviving portraits are being united for the first time. Van Eyck: The Portraits will be on view at the National Gallery in London from November 2026 to April 2027. The collected works make up nearly half of the painter’s surviving oeuvre.
“Van Eyck is one of the pillars of the National Gallery’s collection and a foundational figure in the European history of art,” says Gabriele Finaldi, the gallery’s director. “The portraits reflect a remarkable sensitivity to his sitters and an astounding technical virtuosity in their execution.”
