The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck

Erwin Panofsky suggests that the painting is a portrait of the wedding of the Arnolfinis. Panofsky notes that the picture has long been accepted as a portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini, though there have been some from time to time who have argued otherwise. Panofsky says that the subject matter of this picture is unique in northern fifteenth-century panel-painting. He also notes that the painting has long been considered to be made up of the constituent elements that make up a legal marriage or betrothal. In his analysis of the picture, Panofsky cites Catholic dogma that holds that marriage is a sacrament which is immediately accomplished by the mutual consent of the persons to be married when such consent is expressed by words and actions. The Church cautioned the fai

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rmons of Bernardino might relate to the Arnolfini portrait, Carroll begins with an analysis of the culture in which the picture was produced. This is described by Carroll as a mercantile culture. The period is the late medieval era, and records show that Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami were respected members of the colony of Italian merchants from Lucca living in Bruges in the early fifteenth century. Arnolfini earned his fortune through international trade, finance, and loaning money to the courts of France and Burgundy. A good deal is known of his history and his business dealings, and Carroll describes many of these to show the range of his career and also the many acquaintances and business associates he had in the various courts of the time. Carroll also wants to demonstrate how much traveling the man did to show that he was often away from Bruges for long periods of time, and her conclusion is that he would need someone in Bruges to take care of his business dealings for him and to oversee his affairs while he wa away. Many of his time relied on a network of kinsmen for these tasks, but Arnolfini does not appear to have done this himself. Instead, he is pictured as a lone operator who participated in short-term
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2364
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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