Editing Jan van Eyck (section)

==Life and career==

===Early life===
Little is known of Jan van Eyck's early life and neither the date nor place of his birth is documented.<!-- in Dhanens, will retrieve --> The first extant record of his life comes from the court of [[John III, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing|John of Bavaria]] at [[The Hague]] where, between 1422 and 1424, payments were made to ''Meyster Jan den malre'' (Master Jan the painter) who was then a court painter with the rank of [[valet de chambre]], with at first one and then two assistants.<ref>Châtelet, Albert, ''Early Dutch Painting, Painting in the northern Netherlands in the fifteenth century''. 27–8, 1980, Montreux, Lausanne, {{ISBN|2-88260-009-7}}</ref> This suggests a date of birth of 1395 at the latest. However, some scholars have argued it was closer to 1380.<ref name="C174"/> He was identified in the late 16th century as having been born in [[Maaseik]], a borough of the [[prince-bishopric of Liège]].<ref>By the [[Ghent]] [[Renaissance Humanist|humanists]] [[Marcus van Vaernewyck]] and [[Lucas de Heere]].</ref> His daughter Lievine was in a nunnery in Maaseik after her father's death. The notes on his preparatory drawing for ''[[Portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati]]'' are written in the Maasland dialect.<ref name="b8"/>

He had a sister Margareta, and at least two brothers, [[Hubert van Eyck|Hubert]] (died 1426), with whom he probably served his apprenticeship<ref>van Buren, Anne Hagopian. "[http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T027196pg2 van Eyck]". [[Oxford University Press]]. Retrieved 25 November 2017</ref> and Lambert (active between 1431 and 1442), both also painters, but the order of their births has not been established.<ref name="C174" /> Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France, [[Barthélemy van Eyck]], is presumed to be a relation.<ref>Dhanens, (1980)</ref> It is not known where Jan was educated, but he had knowledge of Latin and used the Greek and Hebrew alphabets in his inscriptions, indicating that he was schooled in the classics.<ref name="C174" /> This level of education was rare among painters, and would have made him more attractive to the cultivated Philip.<ref>Campbell (1998), 20</ref>

===Court painter===
[[File:Lamgods open.jpg|thumb|[[Hubert van Eyck|Hubert]] and Jan van Eyck, ''[[Ghent Altarpiece]]'', completed 1432. [[Saint Bavo Cathedral]], Ghent]]
Van Eyck served as official to [[John of Bavaria-Straubing]], ruler of [[Holland]], [[County of Hainaut|Hainault]] and [[Zeeland]]. By this time he had assembled a small workshop and was involved in redecorating the [[Binnenhof]] palace in [[The Hague]]. After John's death in 1425 he moved to Bruges and came to the attention of [[Philip the Good]] {{Circa|1425}}.<ref name="wh75">Wolff, Hand (1987), 75</ref><!-- who then sent him to Liege --> His emergence as a collectable painter generally follows his appointment to Philip's court, and from this point his activity in the court is comparatively well documented. He served as court artist and diplomat, and was a senior member of the Tournai [[Guild of Saint Luke|painters' guild]]. On 18 October 1427, the Feast of St. Luke, he travelled to Tournai to attend a banquet in his honour, also attended by [[Robert Campin]] and [[Rogier van der Weyden]].<ref name="b9">Borchert (2008), 9</ref>

A court salary freed him from commissioned work, and allowed a large degree of artistic freedom.<ref>Jones (2011), 23</ref><!-- immune from painter's guild as ducal employee --> Over the following decade van Eyck's reputation and technical ability grew, mostly from his innovative approaches towards the handling and manipulating of oil paint. Unlike most of his peers, his reputation never diminished and he remained well regarded over the following centuries. His revolutionary approach to oil was such that a myth, perpetuated by [[Giorgio Vasari]], arose that he had invented [[oil painting]].{{efn-ua|The myth was propagated by [[Karel van Mander]]. In fact oil painting as a technique for painting wood statues and other objects is much older and [[Theophilus Presbyter|Theophilus]] ([[Roger of Helmarshausen]]?) clearly gives instructions in his 1125 treatise, ''On Divers Arts''. It is accepted that the van Eyck brothers were among the earliest Early Netherlandish painters to employ it for detailed [[panel painting]]s and that they achieved new and unforeseen effects through the use of glazes, [[wet-on-wet]] and other techniques. See Gombrich, E. H., ''The Story of Art'', 236–39. Phaidon, 1995. {{ISBN|0-7148-3355-X}}}}<ref>Borchert (2008), 92–94</ref>

His brother [[Hubert van Eyck]] collaborated on Jan's most famous works, the ''Ghent Altarpiece'', generally art historians believe it was begun {{Circa|1420}} by Hubert and completed by Jan in 1432. Another brother, Lambert, is mentioned in [[Burgundian Netherlands|Burgundian]] court documents, and may have overseen his brother's workshop after Jan's death.<ref>[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/eyck/hd_eyck.htm Jan van Eyck (ca. 1380/1390–1441)]". [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]. Retrieved 17 March 2012.</ref><!-- 60 pages about this in Pacht. -->

===Maturity and success===
[[File:Margareta van Eyck.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Margaret van Eyck]]'', [[Groeningemuseum]], [[Bruges]], 1439]]
Considered revolutionary within his lifetime, van Eyck's designs and methods were heavily copied and reproduced. His motto, one of the first and still most distinctive signatures in art history, ''<small>ALS ICH KAN</small>'' ("AS I CAN"), a pun on his name,<ref>Nash (2008), 152</ref> first appeared in 1433 on ''[[Portrait of a Man in a Turban]]'', which can be seen as indicative of his emerging self-confidence at the time. The years between 1434 and 1436 are generally considered his high point when he produced works including the ''[[Madonna of Chancellor Rolin]]'', ''[[Lucca Madonna]]'' and ''[[Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele]]''. 

Around 1432, he married [[Portrait of Margaret van Eyck|Margaret]] who was 15 years younger. At about the same time he bought a house in Bruges; Margaret is unmentioned before he relocated, when the first of their two children was born in 1434. Very little is known of Margaret; even her maiden name is lost&nbsp;– contemporary records refer to her mainly as ''Damoiselle Marguerite''.<ref name="t149"/> She may have been of aristocratic birth, though from the lower nobility, evidenced from her clothes in the portrait which are fashionable but not of the sumptuousness worn by the bride in the ''[[Arnolfini Portrait]]''. Later, as the widow of a renowned painter Margaret was afforded a modest pension by the city of Bruges after Jan's death. At least some of this income was invested in [[lottery]].<ref>Van Der Elst (2005), 65</ref>

Van Eyck undertook a number of journeys on Philip the Duke of Burgundy's behalf between 1426 and 1429, described in records as "secret" commissions, for which he was paid multiples of his annual salary. Their precise nature is still unknown, but they seem to involve his acting as envoy of the court. In 1426 he departed for "certain distant lands", possibly to the [[Holy Land]], a theory given weight by the topographical accuracy of [[Jerusalem]] in ''The Three Marys at the Tomb'', a painting completed by members of his workshop {{Circa|1440}}.<ref name="b8">Borchert (2008), 8</ref>

A better documented commission was the journey to Lisbon along with a group intended to prepare the ground for the Duke's wedding to [[Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy|Isabella of Portugal]]. Van Eyck was tasked with [[Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (van Eyck)|painting the bride]], so that the Duke could visualise her before their marriage. Because Portugal was ridden with [[Black Death|plague]], their court was itinerant and the Dutch party met them at the out-of-the-way [[castle of Avis]]. Van Eyck spent nine months there, returning to the Netherlands with Isabella as a bride to be; the couple married on Christmas Day of 1429.<ref>Macfall, Haldane. ''A History of Painting: The Renaissance in the North and the Flemish Genius Part Four''. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2004. 15. {{ISBN|1-4179-4509-5}}</ref> The princess was probably not particularly attractive, and that is exactly how Van Eyck conveyed her in the now lost portrait. Typically he showed his sitters as dignified, yet did not hide their imperfections.<ref name="b35">Borchert (2008), 35</ref> After his return, he was preoccupied with completing the ''Ghent Altarpiece'', which was consecrated on 6 May 1432 at [[Saint Bavo Cathedral]] during an official ceremony for Philip. Records from 1437 say that he was held in high esteem by the upper ranks of Burgundian nobility and was employed in foreign commissions.

===Death and legacy===
[[File:Annunciation - Jan van Eyck - 1434 - NG Wash DC.jpg|thumb|''[[Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)|Annunciation]]'', 1434–1436; [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington]]

Jan van Eyck died on 9 July 1441, in Bruges. He was buried in the graveyard of the [[St Donatian's Cathedral|Church of St Donatian]].<ref name="C174" /> As a mark of respect, Philip made a one-off payment to Jan's widow Margaret, to a value equal to the artist's annual salary. He left behind many unfinished works to be completed by his workshop journeymen.<ref>Borchert (2008), 94</ref> After his death, Lambert van Eyck ran the workshop,<ref name="b12">Borchert (2008), 12</ref> as Jan's reputation and stature steadily grew. Early in 1442 Lambert had the body exhumed and placed inside [[St. Donatian's Cathedral]].

In 1449 he was mentioned by the Italian humanist and antiquarian [[Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli]] as a painter of note and ability, and was recorded by [[Bartolomeo Facio]] in 1456.