1432 -1441 · Gaze, inscription and identity

Man with a red turban, husband Arnolfini, young man with a rose and Margareta van Eyck show the portrait between direct presence, couple, romantic attribute and marital memory.

Van Eyck transforms the European portrait through the intensity of the gaze, the light and the description of the surfaces. The Man in the Red Turban bears the inscription "Als Ich Can" and is often considered a self-portrait, without absolute certainty. The Arnolfinis occupy a room where mirror, candlestick, shoes and fruit have given rise to numerous interpretations; the image should not be reduced to a single wedding key. The young man with the rose associates effigy and emotional or dynastic sign. Margareta van Eyck, wife of the painter, is named and dated by the inscription of the frame, giving the portrait a rare documentary intimacy. Each model exists through the encounter between face, object and text. The "Portraits of Jan van Eyck" selection notably compares Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban and Portrait of the Arnolfini Husbands. His reading favors color.

Van Eyck does not only copy a face: he constructs the precise conditions in which this face looks at us and can be named.