Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait

The Jan van Eyck portrait of the marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami provides room for interpretation from different perspectives. The classic interpretation offered by Erwin Panofsky focuses on the religious sacrament of marriage, while the interpretation provided by Linda Seidel argues the portrait portrays the economics involved in marriage that represents "business as usual." This analysis will provide a comparison and contrast of Panofksy's and Seidel's interpretations.

There are a number of similarities in the Panofsky and Seidel interpretations of van Eyck's "Arnolfini" panel. Both agree that the portrait revolves around the informal wedding ceremony of Giovanni Arnolfini and his foreign bride Giovanna Cenami. Both are in agreement that the wedding is witnessed by the artist van Eyck, and both agree that the ceremony is conducted without clergy in Bruges where neither individual has relatives. However, this is where the similarities end. For Panofsky's interpretation focuses on t

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Category: Arts - J