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Portrait of a Man (sometimes known as Léad Souvenir) is a small 1432 oil on oak painting by the Early Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck. The sitter has not been identified but given his individualistic features- neither the shape of his head nor his facial features correspond to contemporary standard types, let alone cannons of ideal beauty - the work is believed to have been based on a historical person, rather than on a hypothetical ideal that as was usual for the time. In this the panel is one of the earliest surviving examples of secular portraiture in late medieval European art. The work is considered emblematic and perhaps the earliest extant example of the emerging style. The new approach to representation can be observed in several aspects, primarily in its realism and acute observation of the small details of the man's appearance; the beginning of a new realism allowed to painters through an understanding of the handling of the medium of oil. The close observation of the man's narrow shoulders, pursed lips and thin eyebrows, gives way to a close observation which extends down to even the moisture observable on his stark blue eyes.
The man is dressed in a red robe and wears a green chaperon which extends to the parapet on which his arm seem to rest. He is framed within an undefined narrow space. He appears to be bald, although some traces of fair hair can be seen if looked at close enough. The man has neither eyebrows nor stubble; it is though that the eyelashes were the later addition of a restorer. His hands hold what may be either a letter, legal document or pamphlet. His hands are generically drawn; they may have been a later addition by Van Eyck or a member of his workshop; they are noticeably similar to those of the sitter for his c 1435 Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy. Unlike van Eyck's contemporary Rogier van der Weyden, who pays close attention to detail in the rendering of his model's fingers, to Van Eyck hands were often something of an after thought. From the document prominently held in his hands, the sitter may have been a legal professional, or less likely, emblematic of a legal deed. In either case, he is not grandly dressed and is probably a member of the middle class.
The stone parapet has three horizontal layers of inscription, with the top and lower lettering often not visible in reproductions. The top later contains the Greek "ΓγΜ.ωΟΕΟΙ", which was interpretated by Charles Eastlake as "Timotheos", a reference to Timotheus of Miletus a Greek musician and dithyrambic poet. Irwin Panofsky identified the sitter as the cleric Gilles Binchois, although Campbell is skeptical and notes the sitter "is not dressed as a cleric". The letters after the punctuation mark are generally accepted as representing the name of God 'THEOS'. The "o" before the letters 'THEOS' probably indicate the past tense, put together the inscription may read "Timotheus, Then God". The much larger middle inscription, using a script dated to the 12th century, reads "LÉAD SOVVENIR" (Loyal Remembrance).
From these two inscriptions the panel is generally accepted as being a posthumous portrait. Art historian Susan Jones notes that Roman tombstones often showed a representation of the deceased behind a parapet with a carved inscription, and that van Eyck may have known of these from travels to France. The lower inscription reads "Actu ano dni.1432.10.die ocobris.a.ioh de Eyck" (These are done in the year of our Lord 1432 on the 10th day of October by Jan van Eyck). Lorne Campbell has observed that the phrasing of this extended signature is surprisingly reminisant of legalese, with van Eyck presenting himself almost in the role of a witness ("Acta sunt hec" translating as "these are done"), reinforcing the idea that the man was a legal professional.
References
Notes
- ^ Smith, 42
- ^ Kemperdick, 19
- Campbell, 218
- Kemperdick notes that Hans Holbein the Younger "used the same pair of hands for many of his portraits, so that they look much the same on 70-year-old William Warham and Anne Lovell, forty years his junior." Kemperdick, 20
- Kemperdick, 20
- ^ Borchert, 36
- Campbell, 220
- Campbell, 222
Sources
- Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eyck. London: Taschen, 2008. ISBN 3-8228-5687-8
- Campbell, Lorne. The Fifteenth-Century Netherlandish Paintings. London, National Gallery. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-300-07701-7
- Jones, Susan Frances. Van Eyck to Gossaert. National Gallery, 2011. ISBN 978-1-85709-504-3
- Kemperdick, Stephan. The Early Portrait, from the Collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein and the Kunstmuseum Basel. Munich: Prestel, 2006. ISBN 3-7913-3598-7
- Smith, Jeffrey Chipps. The Northern Renaissance. London: Phaidon Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7148-3867-5
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