Ch. 20: Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Northern Europe

In 1434, Jan Van Eyck created Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife. The secular painting is filled with symbols which present a story telling the on-looker who Arnolfini and the woman are. Arnolfini is holding his wife's hand. So, he is either proposing to his wife or discussing the legalities of their financial matters. The shoes on the floor indicate each of the two's working role in the relationship. Arnolfini's shoes are near the door which indicates that he goes to town to work. His wife, however, has shoes in the back of the room suggesting that she stays at home to maintain the house. The clothes on the two indicates that they are of at least high-middle class. However, the size of the room or house shows that Arnolfini and his wife are not among the rich elites. Those are just a few of the symbols. I enjoyed learning about the symbols and what they were put in the painting.

The right wing of Jean Fouquet's Melun Diptych contains two panels. The right panel, Virgin and Child, features the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus surrounded by angels. The image depicts Mary, Jesus, and the cherubs as unearthly. Mary and Jesus are marble-like, and the angels look unreal as if they are made of red and blue candy. The image definitely grabbed my attention, and I honestly did not notice the blue angels the first time I saw the painting in my book. The blue ones are the same color as the background.