Assignment 3 ~ The Arnolfini Marriage

“The Arnolfini Marriage”, oil on oak panel by Jan van Eyck, 1434, in the National Gallery, London.

This painting shows a man and a woman are well dressed and holding hands in a bedroom. On the left side of the painting, there is a man, Giovanni Arnolfini dressed dark robes and wearing a dark hat. His feet are bare and he is using his left hand to support right hand of the woman on his left side whereas his right hand is in front of his body. There is a woman on the right side of the painting, she is Giovanna Cenami. She is wearing a stylish green dress during 1400’s which gives her contour a swollen appearance. Her left hand holding a portion of her dress up toward her stomach and her right hand is supported by Giovanni’s left hand. Besides that, there is a Lap dog located on the middle bottom part of the painting. The dog is brown in colour and it is furly. There is a pair of white shoes is located on the left bottom part of this painting whereas a pair of red shoes is located on the middle part of the painting, which is below of the couple’s hand.

Moreover, we can also see a red colour bed on the right side of painting which is behind Giovanna. There are some oranges on the left side of the painting, which is in the window sill and on the table behind Giovanni. On the middle part of the painting which is also above of the couple’s hand, there is a convex mirror which reflects everything in the room, included the reflection of 2 other individuals whereas the frame is inset with 10 religious medallions that depict the life of Christ. Furthermore, there is a chandelier with 1 lit candle located on the middle upper part of the painting. On the other hand, there is also a signature located on the middle upper part of the painting which is above the convex mirror. The date below the signature is 1434.

In addition, the element used in this painting included Shape (circle, rectangle), Line (implied line), Texture (stimulated), Balance (approximate symmetrical), Value (3D), and Colour (cool colour included blue, green, and white whereas warm colour included red, orange, black and brown).