Van Eyck

The Arnolfini Portrait, showing the wedding of a young couple, is one of the most famous paintings of the Early Renaissance. With its unprecedented precision and masterful use of color the painting is a testament to the mastery of Flemish painter Jan van Eyck c. 1390-1441, leader of the Early Netherland School. All though he cannot be credited, as many have claimed, as the inventor of oil painting, his use of the medium was highly innovative, allowing for great intensity and depth of color. Often imitated but never equaled, van Eyck left an indelible impression on Renaissance art and paved the way for future realist painters.