Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Van Eyck has built a medieval dollhouse, inviting us to linger over the furnishings.
Feel the texture of the fabrics, count the terrier's hairs, trace the shadows generated by the
window. Each object is painted at an ideal angle, with the details you'd see if you were
standing directly in front of it. So the strings of beads hanging on the back wall are as
crystal clear as the bracelets on the woman.
To top it off, look into the round mirror on the far wall—the whole scene is reflected
backward in miniature, showing the loving couple and a pair of mysterious visitors. Is one
of them Van Eyck himself at his easel? Or has the artist painted you, the home viewer, into
the scene?
