Arnolfini Portrait

Jan van Eyck signed and dated this in 1434, and he did it in an odd way, writing on the back wall in flowing Latin, Jan van Eyck was here, as if he were a witness rather than the painter. Below those words hangs a convex mirror, and if you look into it you can see the whole room from behind, including two small figures in the doorway where you, the viewer, are standing. This is a merchant from Bruges and a woman whose identity is still argued over. Her gathered green dress makes her look pregnant, though that was simply the fashionable shape of the day. A single candle burns in the chandelier in full daylight, a dog stands at their feet, and the man raises his hand as if caught mid-gesture. It is one of the first oil paintings to render a room this completely.