Arolfini Wedding Portrait, 1434.
A pregnant bride? Nope. Look again. She is wearing such a ridiculous quantity of fur lined, richly dyed green fabric, that she has to gather it up in her hands in order to walk. What a display. I note that Westerners STILL have not gotten over the impulse to show off by having way more stuff than could ever be used or deemed necessary. I include myself in this accusation, though I do think I have come a long way in paring down over the years. Still- a continuous effort at consciousness, a tug of war of material addiction, attachment and letting go.
3 comments:
Correction on my statement in this post:
van Eyck was not technically the FIRST oil painter, as it had existed since the beginning of Greek, Roman and Egyptian civilizations. In the past they used animal sourced oils, beeswax and vegetal oils that had a prohibitively long drying time, so the methods were warned against. van Eyck achieved a stable varnish of primarily linseed oil, which bound the pigments, dried well and trapped light for a brilliant transluscence and color intensity.
No way man! Pregnant. For sure. Pregnant and a ridiculously fancy dress.
I know, huh? I thought so, too, but the authorities say otherwise.
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