Wed 29 Aug 2007
On Reflection V
Posted by anaglyph under 7 Famous Mirrors
[13] Comments
7 Famous Mirrors (cont)
•6: The Eye of God
Just when you hoped thought I might have forgotten about my 7 Famous Mirrors I am pleased to present for your edification #6 – Jan Van Eyck’s portrait ‘The Marriage of the Arnolfinis’.
The image of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami on their wedding is among the most recognizable of Renaissance paintings. The famous convex mirror, behind and between the Arnolfinis, holds a pivotal place in the picture’s composition.
Things to note about the mirror:
•It is unlikely that a mirror of the size depicted could have been made at the time of the Arnolfinis. Van Eyck has probably exaggerated its size to emphasize its symbolic importance.
•Experts speculate that the mirror is representative of the Eye of God watching over the wedding, an hypothesis which is further emphasized by the small medallions depicting the Passion of Christ inlaid around the frame.
• The mirror reflects two people standing in front of the Arnolfinis (that is, where we, the audience, would be standing if we were actually there). One of them, a figure in a blue smock, is thought to be the painter. The identity of the other is not known.
Thing is, whenever I’ve looked at this picture I’ve never been able to shake the kinda creepy feeling that the other figure standing there beside Van Eyck is… me…
Funny how the camera aint reflectd in th mirror.
Ah, well … I guess th paintr couda paintd it out.
I have always found this entire painting slightly creepy. And compelling. I don’t know why.
That dog did such a great job in the Wizard of Oz.
Early explorers in the Artic felt there was one more man present than they could count.
For some odd reason this painting has been banned from art history books used in Family Values school here in the States.
You’d think they’d like a painting of a marriage ceremony featuring the Eye of God.
Huh. Must be sumthin’ else…
[which makes me wonder- if that was the Eye of God, and the Family Values types are right about what pisses God off, you’d think he’d be zappin’ them right about then. Deep moral questions to ponder. And by the thumping noise, I think Senator Craig is pondering them in the bathroom right now.]
Yeah, I hate the way that eye of god always seem to be following me.
And, uh, that’s the *marriage*? But, uh, gee whillikers, the way those women wore their clothes, you’d think they were knocked up or something. But, that couldn’t be because everybody knows sex wasn’t invented until the 20th century.
I’m confusticated now.
By golly she looks pregnant to me. I think they must be . . . . . Republicans!
Oddly enough, it seems that scholars don’t generally agree that Giovanna is pregnant. There are notable other images from the period that show the same kind of attire, and it is possible that the ‘pregnant look’ may have in fact been a fashion of the time.
Briefly during the Victorian era, the “pregnant look” was also fashionable, with women wearing cage-like underpinnings to simulate the tum.
Sorry, can’t help noticing the mirror’s convex, not concave…
And, just to be an awful pedant, the “pregnant look” was Empire Line, wasn’t it, more Regency than Victorian?
Hey jr. I’m not talking about the Empire Line, with the skirt falling from just under the bust (beloved of BBC Austen adaptations). This was an actual cage-like arrangement (made in a similar way to the underpinnings of a hoop skirt, but obviously not that shape) which produced the look of a pregnant belly under fitted clothes. It was the fashion for a brief season (obviously only amongst the owning classes). (That’s enough parentheses.)
I found out about it when I directed a play set in 1899.
jr: You are indeed entirely correct – the mirror is convex. Bit of a slip of the mental pen there. Consider it amended!
And there can never be enough pedantry on The Cow!
Thanks for the clarification, Cissy – it seems there have been many popular Pregnant Looks. Including of course the perennial favourite, actually being pregnant. Goes to show, some things never go out of style!