The Arnolfini Portrait: meaning, symbols and secrets

The Arnolfini Portrait (in Italian Ritratto dei coniugi Arnolfini) is an oil painting on oak panel by the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck, dated 1434. It shows a wealthy Italian merchant, Giovanni Arnolfini of Lucca, and his wife, standing hand in hand in their room in Bruges. It measures about 82 x 60 cm (32.3 x 23.6 in) and hangs in London, at the National Gallery.

On this page you will find who the couple really were, what the scene depicts, the meaning of all the symbols (the mirror, the signature, the candle, the dog, the oranges, the clogs), the theories of scholars and the painting's journey to London. At the centre is the painting we have printed on Amalfi paper.

What the Arnolfini Portrait depicts

Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, oil on panel, about 82 x 60 cm (32.3 x 23.6 in). London, National Gallery

We are in a room of a wealthy house in Bruges, in Flanders, one of the richest cities in Europe in the 15th century. He, dressed in dark clothes with a large straw hat dyed black and a fur-lined cloak, raises his right hand. She, in a green gown with very long fur-trimmed sleeves, offers him her right hand and with her left lifts the gown over her belly. Around them are objects that, in 1434, very few could afford: a brass chandelier, a convex mirror, an oriental carpet, glass in the windows, oranges.

It is one of the very first full-length portraits of two people in a domestic setting, rather than saints or kings. That is why it is considered a milestone of European painting. And it is painted with a precision never seen before: you can count the hairs of the dog, the beads of the rosary, the reflections on the oranges.

Who were the Arnolfini couple

The Arnolfini were a family of merchants from Lucca who traded precious fabrics and silk all over Europe. In the 15th century several Arnolfini lived in Bruges, the great port of Flemish trade. For centuries it was believed that the painting portrayed Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini and his wife Giovanna Cenami, who also came from a Lucca family.

In the 1990s, however, the archives revealed that Giovanni di Arrigo and Giovanna Cenami married only in 1447: thirteen years after the date of the painting and six years after van Eyck's death in 1441. Today the National Gallery considers it more likely that the man is his cousin, Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini. His first wife, Costanza Trenta, however, had already died by early 1433. The woman in the portrait could therefore be her, remembered after her death, or a second wife we know nothing about. The mystery, in part, remains.

The meaning of the symbols

Nothing in the painting is there by chance. Every object has a purpose: to show the couple's wealth and, at the same time, to convey a religious or moral meaning. Here are the most important.

The mirror and the two reflected figures

The convex mirror and, above it, the signature "Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434"

On the back wall hangs a convex mirror, an extremely rare and costly object. Its frame holds ten small roundels with scenes from the Passion of Christ. In the glass we see the couple from behind and, in the doorway, two people coming in: one dressed in blue, the other in red. They are the witnesses to the scene, and many believe that one of them is van Eyck himself. The mirror tells us that the scene has onlookers, and that we too, as we look, are there in the doorway.

The signature: "Jan van Eyck was here"

Above the mirror, in elegant Gothic lettering, is written "Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434": "Jan van Eyck was here, 1434". It is not the usual "made this" (fecit) signature, but the words of a witness, as in a notarial deed. That is why many scholars think the painting is the record, almost the document, of a solemn moment the painter attended.

The candle lit in broad daylight

The chandelier with a single lit candle

The chandelier has six arms, but only one candle is lit, and in broad daylight. It is the symbol of the presence of God, who sees everything, or the candle that was lit at wedding ceremonies in Flanders. Some also point out that the lit candle is on the man's side, while on the woman's side there is only a burnt-out candle: this would be a sign that she was already dead when the painting was made.

The hands and the gesture

The hands of the couple

He raises his right hand like someone taking an oath, and with his left he takes the woman's hand. That is why the painting was long read as the depiction of a marriage or a betrothal: before the Council of Trent, in the mid-16th century, an exchange of consent and two witnesses were enough for a marriage to be valid, even without a priest.

Is the woman pregnant?

Almost certainly not. The belly is the gown: a very full green wool dress, which the woman lifts with her hand. It was the fashion of elegant ladies of the time, and the virgin saints in Flemish paintings have the same figure. The green, the colour of spring, and the gesture over the belly may, however, be a wish for fertility.

The dog, the clogs and the oranges

The little dog and the wooden clogs

The little dog at the couple's feet is the classic symbol of fidelity, and also a luxury animal. The man's wooden clogs have been left on the floor, and in the background you can see the woman's red slippers: the two are barefoot, perhaps because they stand in a place made sacred by the moment, like Moses before the burning bush, perhaps simply because they are at home.

The oranges on the window and on the chest

The oranges on the windowsill and on the chest were a fruit imported from the south, very expensive in Flanders: they tell us the Arnolfini are rich merchants. But they also recall the fruit of Eden, innocence before sin. Outside the window is a cherry tree laden with fruit: it is summer, and yet the two are wearing furs, because their clothes are meant to show their rank, not to keep out the cold.

The bed, the saint and the rosary

The large red bed in the room was not a sign of intimacy: in wealthy Flemish homes the bed stood in the reception room and was an object of prestige. On the back of the chair beside it a small saint with a dragon is carved, perhaps Saint Margaret, patron saint of women in childbirth; a brush hangs nearby, which also suggests Saint Martha, patron saint of housewives. Next to the mirror hangs a rosary of amber beads, a typical betrothal gift and a symbol of the bride's virtue.

The Arnolfini Portrait on Amalfi paper

Few paintings can be looked at for years while discovering something new each time. The Arnolfini Portrait is one of them: today you notice the mirror, tomorrow the rosary, then the figures in the doorway. Hung at home, it is a painting that invites you to stop, and that always starts a conversation with anyone seeing it for the first time.

We have printed the whole painting on a sheet of handmade Amalfi paper, the oldest paper in Italy: the green of the gown, the red of the bed and the gleam of the brass stay full and warm, and around the image remains the margin with the deckled edges of the handmade process. The sheet measures 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in) and is mounted in a handmade beech frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in) in all. Each print comes with a certificate of authenticity, also on Amalfi paper, signed by the craftsman who printed it.

Why it is not a poster

Van Eyck painted in very thin layers of oil paint, like sheets of glass laid one over another: on ordinary paper that depth disappears. We chose the oldest paper in Italy.

Marriage, betrothal or memorial? The interpretations

A marriage. In 1934 the art historian Erwin Panofsky put forward the most famous reading: the painting would be a painted "marriage certificate", with the painter as witness. It is the interpretation still found in many books.

A betrothal or a legal act. Other scholars think of an engagement or another official act between the two, for example the man entrusting his wife with the management of his affairs. The raised hand and the "was here" signature fit this idea well.

A memorial portrait. If the woman is Costanza Trenta, who died in 1433, the painting would be a tribute to the late wife: the burnt-out candle on her side, the scenes of Christ's death and resurrection in the roundels of the mirror close to her. It is the most evocative theory, but it remains a theory.

A portrait of prestige. Whatever the ceremony, the painting is also a calling card: two foreign merchants showing off their wealth, their faith and their good taste, by turning to the painter of the Duke of Burgundy.

Jan van Eyck, the Duke's painter

Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban, 1433, probable self-portrait. London, National Gallery

Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441) was court painter to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and lived in Bruges. For centuries it was said that he had "invented" oil painting: that is not true, but he brought it to a perfection never seen before, with layers of transparent colour that give light and materials an almost photographic truth. His probable self-portrait, the man in the red turban, is also in the National Gallery. And it is he, according to many, who is one of the two visitors reflected in the Arnolfini mirror.

Where is the Arnolfini Portrait

The painting is in London, at the National Gallery, in Trafalgar Square, where entry to the permanent collection is free. Its journey reads like a novel: in 1516 it belonged to Margaret of Austria, governor of the Netherlands; it then passed to the Spanish court and stayed for almost three centuries in the royal palace in Madrid. During the Napoleonic Wars it was carried off by the French and, after the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, ended up in the hands of a British officer, Colonel James Hay. The National Gallery bought it in 1842.

And to think it all began with a family of merchants from Lucca: if you are curious about their city, on our blog you will find the map of ancient Lucca by Pierre Mortier. And if you want the Arnolfini always before your eyes, there is our print of the Arnolfini Portrait on Amalfi paper.

Where to hang it, and who to give it to

In the study or library, above an antique desk, where its warm tones of wood, brass and velvet go well with books. In the bedroom, next to a large bed, just like in the Arnolfini's room. In the office of a notary or a lawyer, for a painting that was born almost as a legal act. And as a wedding or anniversary gift, the most fitting in the whole history of art: a couple hand in hand, with the dog of fidelity at their feet.

Frequently asked questions