Lesson 2. Mirror, dog, candle: the symbols of “The Arnolfini Portrait”

Jan van Eyck painted “The Arnolfini Portrait” in 1434 (the National Gallery, London). At first glance, it's just a man and a woman in a room. In fact, almost every object here means something, and together they add up to a story about marriage, fidelity, and prosperity. It's a great example of how to read the symbols of the Old Masters. The painting doesn't “illustrate” a text — it is a text, to be decoded detail by detail. Let's go through the key signs. Important: historians argue about how to interpret the symbols, and not every detail has a single meaning. But the traditional “readings” of this painting have long been textbook material, and they're worth knowing — they train the very skill of looking for meaning in objects.

The traditional interpretations of the details: — Dog — fidelity and devotion (for centuries the dog was a symbol of faithfulness in marriage). — A single lit candle in the chandelier in broad daylight — the presence of God, the all-seeing eye, or the marriage ceremony. — The convex mirror, framed by scenes of the Passion of Christ, and the inscription “Jan van Eyck was here” — a witness's testimony, like a signature on a document: the artist certifies what is taking place. — Shoes taken off — a hint at the holiness of the place (“take off your shoes, for this place is holy”). — Prayer beads on the wall — piety. — Oranges on the windowsill — wealth (back then they were an expensive import) and perhaps a theme of paradise. — The green dress — not pregnancy (as people often think) but fashion and wealth: the gown took a great deal of expensive fabric. The main skill here isn't memorizing these meanings but getting used to asking yourself: “Why did the artist put this particular object here?”