A man and woman stand in a bedroom, hands almost touching. Behind them, on the wall, hangs a small round mirror. Look closely and that mirror shows something the rest of the painting doesn't.
What you're looking at
Jan van Eyck painted this double portrait in 1434, showing two figures standing in a richly furnished room: a heavy fur-trimmed robe, an ornate chandelier, a small dog at their feet. Every object is rendered with almost microscopic precision, a hallmark of van Eyck's technique with oil paint, which let him build up incredibly fine detail and subtle light effects layer by layer.
The artist who signed himself as a witness
Above the convex mirror on the back wall, van Eyck inscribed the Latin words "Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434," meaning "Jan van Eyck was here." That's an unusual thing to write directly onto a portrait — not a typical signature tucked into a corner, but a statement placed prominently above the mirror, almost like a witness signing a document. And the mirror itself reflects two additional figures standing in the doorway, facing into the room, hinting that van Eyck may have painted himself into the scene as an observer or witness to whatever moment this portrait records.
That combination of the inscription and the reflected witnesses has led generations of art historians to debate exactly what event the painting documents, though no single explanation has ever been definitively proven.
One detail to look for
Look into the small convex mirror on the back wall. Around its frame, van Eyck painted tiny scenes from the life of Christ, and within the mirror's curved surface itself, the whole room, including two extra figures in the doorway, is reflected in miniature.
See it at its real size
Our canvas print is labeled against the true size of the original — 82.2 x 60 cm — so what you're hanging is honestly scaled to the painting van Eyck made. Shop the canvas print.