EYCK, Jan van
(b. before 1395, Maaseik, d. before 1441, Bruges)

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini

c. 1435
Oil on oak, 29 x 20 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

The exact datation of the painting is debated. However, it was executed about the same time as the famous marriage portrait in the National Gallery, London. Here, Arnolfini's turban is in the Italian style, wrapped around a faceted wooden core like those so often drawn by Piero della Francesca and Uccello as a favourite perspectival exercise.