Analyse and interpret one secular (non-religious) painting produced in the fifteenth century.

The genre of secular art is a product of modern art-historical scholarship. Paintings of a secular nature are said to depict non-religious subjects or scenes. The extent to which ‘secular art’ as a term can be applied to fifteenth century paintings is debatable, as the Catholic church still dominated in every aspect of life during both Northern and Southern Renaissances in Europe. In this short essay I will highlight the secular elements of one painting, The Betrothal of the Arnolfini by Jan van Eyck. This essay will show that although it is problematic to call these paintings truly ‘secular’, this label is useful for the exploration of fifteenth-century art and society. The Betrothal of the Arnolfini was painted by Flemish artist Jan van Eyck in 1434, an oil painting on an oak panel. It is a double portrait depicting the merchant Arnolfini on the left, clasping the hand of his wife, who appears to be pregnant on the right-hand side. They are portrayed in a bedroom, with the ruby red drapery highlighting the function of the wife (childbirth and childrearing) whilst the man is nearer to the window: suggesting agency and his role in the wider world. This painting is arguably about marriage, fidelity and pregnancy. The couple are surrounded by paraphernalia from their relationship: a dog, perhaps representing fidelity, waits patiently at their feet, whilst there are slippers carelessly strewn in the left-hand corner. These items signify the material wealth and social standing of the couple, typified by the peaches, on the left resting on the window sill, which were exotic and expensive. Another detail, a single lit candle in the candelabra above Arnolfini’s side, has afforded the interpretation of this as a memorial painting. Here Arnolfini is still alive, whilst the lack of candle on his wife’s side could foreshadow her death. Behind them, on the far wall, Jan van Eyck has gone to the trouble of depicting a convex mirror, (minutely depicted probably with the aid of a magnifying glass and a single-haired brush) which in turn shows a reflection of the backs of the couple, the artist at work with an assistant. It is this mirror, along with the signature above it (‘Jan van Eyck was here’) provoked a debate of whether this painting is a pictorial kind of wedding certificate. It is worth pointing out that the mirror is ringed by smaller depictions of the stations of the cross – a narrative detailing Christ’s crucifixion. Thus, even a ‘secular’ painting about the relationship between a couple is permeated by the presence of Catholicism.