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Jan Van Eyck as Court Artist

In May of 1425, Jan Van Eyck was appointed pour cause de l'excellent ouvrage de son mestier qu'il fait [On account of the excellent work in his craft that he made] to become a valet de chambre in the household of Philip the Good. He was promised an annual salary of "cliv p. monnoie de Flandres." Jan had held for the three previous years a similar position on the staff of John of Bavaria, the Count of Holland. On the death of John in 1425, Philip the Good was able to incorporate the County of Holland into his territories. At the same time he assimilated Jan Van Eyck into his household. From that year until Jan's death in 1441, Jan was paid a yearly salary by Philip.

Jan Van Eyck as "peintre de monseigneur" was just like any other member of the court in that he served at the pleasure of the duke. The duke could appoint or dismiss any member of the court at his own discretion and that at his death the court would be disbanded. Court painters belonged to the "familia" of the sovereign. Bonds of reciprocal loyalty tied the duke to members of his court. Burgundian records suggest that Jan Van Eyck was a particularly valued member of the court. In 1428, for example, when others had their pensions revoked, a special payment was made by order of the Duke to Jan. In 1435, the duke commanded the prompt payment of Jan's salary to help insure retaining Jan's services. He feared he would not be able to replace Jan with anyone so gifted in art and science. The familiarity between patron and artist is suggested by a couple of recorded incidents. In 1433, the duke made a visit apparently to Jan's house to inspect a work by Jan. The duke was designated as the godfather of child. In June 1434, a local goldsmith is paid on behalf of the duke for six gold cups to be given to Jan on occasion of the baptism. Philip the Good did not attend the baptism, but he sent the Lord of Chargny to stand in for him.

The terms of Jan's contract stipulated that he was paid for not the work he did but for his readiness to serve whenever he was called upon ("affin qu'il soit tenus de ouvrer pour lui [the duke] de painture toutes les fois qu'il lui plaira;" in 1427 "tant pour considéracion des bons et agréables services qu'il luy a faitz, tant au fait de son dit office, comme autrement, et pour l'aidier et soustenir et avoir ses nécessitez, afin plus honorablement il le puist servir." ) None of the works that have come down to us were made for Philip the Good. We know that Jan painted a portrait of Isabelle of Portugal as part of an embassy to Iberia in 1428-9 to arrange the marriage of the Portugese princess to Philip the Good. An Italian humanist, Bartolomeo Fazio, writing in his On illustrious Men in the middle of the fifteenth century, makes a reference to a circular map of the world Jan made for the duke. Besides these references, there is no documentary evidence of any panel paintings that Jan made for his patron. Except for a portrait of a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, possibly Baudouin de Lannoy, lord of Molembais (c. 1388-1474), none of Jan's other works can be associated with members of the nobility attached to Philip's court. There is no documentary evidence of works now lost that were made by Jan for the higher nobility. With the exceptions cited above, we can not assume that Jan painted panels for the duke and the nobles associated with the Burgundian court. From wills and inventories it is clear that works collected by the members of the nobility were those traditionally associated with their patronage: tapestries, metalwork (gold and silver), and illuminated manuscripts. It is important to note the intrinsic value of the materials associated with these works. Inventories of the book collections pay careful attention to the costly bindings of these books.

Although no known work is recorded, it is likely that the majority of the works that van Eyck did directly for the duke would be in the category of objects that we would label as decorative arts and ephemeral things made for particular court festivities. The records that have come down to us indicate the court painters were regularly called upon to paint saddles, banners, etc. with the arms and devices of the aristocrats. Philip the Good was a very active renovator and builder of his palaces, and account records list payments made to van Eyck at particular estates. This suggests the possibility of his involvement in the interior decoration of these residences. The Burgundian court was reknowned for the extraordinary magnificence of its display in different festivities. Again these could have been projects van Eyck was called upon to contribute to.

The striking paucity of evidence of panels made for the duke and the higher nobility is in marked contrast to the number of panels that can be associated with the bourgeois functionaries attached to the Burgundian court. This echoes the general trend evident in the first several decades of interest in panel painting. Craig Harbison has estimated that between 1425 and 1475 the nobility are outnumbered by a proportion of two to one by the upper middle class as known patrons of panel paintings (The Mirror of the Artist, p. 48). Of the panels that are known to have been made for the nobility a good number of these are portraits. In marked contrast some of the most prominent bourgeois members of Philip the Good's court were the patrons of some of the major extant works. This is well documented by the following table:

Panel Paintings Commissioned by Bourgeois Members of the Court of the Dukes of Burgundy
Jan van Eyck, Rolin Madonna. Nicholas Rolin was the Chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy from 1422-1457.
Rogier van der Weyden, Beaune Last Judgment (exterior) Nicholas Rolin in prayer in the left panel.
Rogier van der Weyden, Beaune Last Judgment
Rogier van der Weyden, Seven Sacrament Triptych, commissioned by Jean Chevrot Jean Chevrot was the president of the grand conseil of the Duke of Burgundy and the Bishop of Tournai.	Jean Chevrot is the bishop administering confirmation.
Rogier van der Weyden, Bladelin Altarpiece, Peter Bladelin is shown in prayer in the central panel. A councillor and financial official to Philip the Good. He was the founder and lord of Middleburg. According to Chastellain, Bladelin received an annual income of 6,000 gold crowns in rents alone.
Rogier van der Weyden, Jean Gros III Diptych, c. 1450-60. Jean le Gros was the audiencer for Philip the Good.
Rogier van der Weyden, Braque Triptych. Perhaps commissioned by Jean Braque's wife, Catherine, after his death.
Dirk Bouts and Hugo van der Goes, Triptych with the Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus, c. 1470-9. Hippolytus Berthoz and Elizabeth van Keuverwijck are represented in prayer in the left panel/

It has been traditional to associate the invention of oil painting with Jan van Eyck. While it is clear that the basic techniques were known earlier, it can be argued that Jan van Eyck popularized the media by connecting it with the interests of a particular social class. While not having the intrinsic value of objects collected by members of the nobility, the oil paintings of van Eyck through mastery of light and attention to detail had the semblance of the costly furs, fabrics, jewels, metalwork, etc. associated with noble patronage. The magnificence of the objects depicted in works like the Rolin Madonna clearly appealed to the audience of bourgeois functionaries who had learned to measure importance through material display. It has been noted by scholars like Harbison that it is not a coincidence that oil painting emerged at the same time as the emergence of the bourgeois functionary class.

As noted by Harbison (Jan Van Eyck: The Play of Realism, p. 19), the rules of the painter's guild of Bruges stipulated that court artists could not produce works for the general art market. This suggests that the commissions that Van Eyck fulfilled were gained by permission of the Duke for whom Van Eyck was in readiness to serve whenever called upon. For the patron obtaining a panel painted by Van Eyck was a sign of ducal favour. The choice of setting the Rolin Madonna in apparently in a heavenly chambre à parer or presence chamber called attention to Nicholas Rolin's proximity to ducal power. In considering a painting like the Arnolfini Portrait, the ducal sanction should not be overlooked. For Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami, it was undoubtedly a great honor to be granted permission from the duke to have his court painter do their portrait. This ducal sanction is important to remember in considering the famous signature on the back wall of the London double portrait:

The positioning of the inscription on the back wall, the statement of Jan van Eyck's presence in this chamber, and formal script associated with official records, all suggest the role of Jan van Eyck as a witness to this event, but as in the case of the baptism of his own child when the Lord of Chargny acted as the surrogate for Philip the Good, it seems likely that van Eyck's role as witness was on behalf of the duke.

The inscription at the bottom of the parapet of the so-called Thymotheos painting in the National Gallery also suggests the context of official court documents. It reads: actum anno domini 1432. 10.die octobris a jan de eyck (Done in the year of the Lord 1432, the 10th day of October by Jan van Eyck). The specificity of the particular day enhances the legalistic aspect of the inscription. Like the Arnolfini signature, the script used here can be connected to court documents. As discussed in the web-page introducing the court of Burgundy, the London panel is probably a portrait of the Burgundian court musician Gille Binchois. While not a self-portrait of van Eyck, it is important to see this painting as a representation of a court functionary like van Eyck.

A work that is frequently identified as a self-portrait of van Eyck is another portrait in the National Gallery in London traditionally entitled the Man with the Red Turban:

The appearance of the motto Als ich can [as [best] I can] on the upper frame can be associated with the practice of using mottoes by the nobility. The inscription on the lower frame (Iohes de Eyck me fecit anno MCCCC33 21 Octobris) has the same specificity of dating as in the Thymotheos portrait.

Such signatures and mottoes found in van Eyck's works are clearly exceptional in early fifteenth century panel painting. Neither Robert Campin or Rogier van der Weyden employed this type of inscription. The inclusion of the signatures and mottoes suggests that they are part of van Eyck's design to articulate his privilege as court painter. He could be like a court official and witness events and produce documents that have ducal sanction. It is also possible that van Eyck is making a claim for a change in social status. One of the rewards sought after by bourgeois functionaries attached to the ducal court would be gaining noble status from the duke in recognition for their loyal service.

While, as we noted above, the works of Jan van Eyck had little intrinsic material value unlike works associated with the patronage of the nobility, the prominent inscription of these works by the duke's official court painter carried significant cachet for their original owners. These works are thus critical milestones in establishing oil painting as the work of individual artists as the dominant art form in the early modern period.

The Dukes of Burgundy were clearly aware of the importance their court as a sign of their prestige among the other princely powers of Europe. Georges Chastellain, the official chronicler of the Duke of Burgundy would later state "After the deeds and exploits of war, which are claims to glory, the household is the first thing that strikes the eye, and that which it is therefore most necessary to conduct and arrange well." [Georges Chastellain, Oeuvres, ed. Kervyn de Lettenhove (8 vols., Brussels, 1863-66) V, p. 364]. As we have noted in the introduction to the court of Burgundy, the Dukes saw their ambitions in broader historical contexts. The fascination with Alexander the Great revealed in their patronage demonstrates their ambitions to be compared to this great ancient model. This interest further enhanced the status of individuals like Jan van Eyck. The comparison was made between the court of Alexander with his painter Apelles and the court of Philip the Good with his painter Jan van Eyck.