Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck (b. c. 1380–d. 1441) is universally recognized as the legendary inventor of oil painting and is widely acknowledged to be the earliest master of independent panel painting for use outside of the church. Immediate predecessors in northern Europe, such as Melchior Broederlam in Burgundy and Master Theodoric in Prague, had combined oil with tempera on wooden surfaces in ecclesiastical furnishings, but none approached Jan’s skill in the handling of oil for glazing and the binding of pigments, or achieved his degree of refinement and creativity in the understanding of optical effects and the rendering of luminosity in self-sufficient pictures. The date and place of Jan’s birth are not known. It is generally accepted that he was born in Maaseyck, not far from Maastricht in the Meuse (Maas) Valley, in the decade between 1380 and 1390, making him a man in his thirties when he entered historical record as “meyster jan den Maelre” or “Johannes die scilder” (master John the painter) in the employ of the Count of Holland, John of Bavaria. His name recurs in documents of the Count’s household between 1422 and 1424 without specification as to the sorts of work he did. Speculation about his work during these years has sought to connect it with book illumination, the medium in which the most refined and sophisticated painting of the time could be found. A few months after John of Bavaria’s death in January of 1425, “Jehan de Heick,” known for the excellence of his work, entered the employ of Philip the Good, the powerful Duke of Burgundy. He lived initially at the Court in Lille, painting tableaux and other things, none of which was ever described. From that moment on, he became the most frequently documented artist of his time, traveling on a diplomatic mission for the Duke to the Iberian Peninsula before taking up residence near the Ducal court in Bruges around 1430. Account records detail gifts and personal visits made to him by the Duke. Ledgers enumerate payments of Jan’s salary as the Duke’s varlet de chambre (chamberlain) and indicate supplemental remuneration for travel to places unknown, made on the Duke’s behalf. All of Jan’s surviving work can be dated to this decade. He completed a huge polyptych in Ghent, which his brother Hubert is said to have begun, and painted about a dozen portraits of individuals, all of whom, as far as is known, had close ties to the Court. Several panels with narrative biblical scenes also appear to date from this decade. When Jan died, he was buried where the Counts of Flanders had traditionally been interred, as was his prerogative as a member of the Duke’s inner circle.