Editing Jan van Eyck (section)

===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>