店にいる金細工師

Petrus Christus signed and dated this in 1449, when he was the leading painter in Bruges after the death of Jan van Eyck. Bruges then was one of the richest trading cities in Europe, and this is essentially a picture about its luxury business. A goldsmith sits in his stall selling a ring to a well-dressed couple who have come to be betrothed, his shelves crowded with worked gold, rings, brooches, and vessels, all painted with dazzling precision. For centuries the man was thought to be Saint Eligius, the patron saint of goldsmiths, partly because of a painted halo around his head. But in 1993 conservators found that the halo was a later addition and removed it, and the figure lost his sainthood. Now he reads as what he probably always was, a real Bruges goldsmith at his daily trade, one scholar even suggesting a specific man who served Philip the Good. In the round mirror on the counter you can see the street outside reflected back at you.