Jan van Eyck’s “The Arnolfini Portrait” (1434) is one of the most famous – and most puzzling – works in Western art history. A full-length double portrait thought to depict the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao di Arnolfini and his wife, this painting remains cloaked in mystery. Is it a marriage scene? Is the woman pregnant? Art historians continue to debate the iconography and meaning of Jan van Eyck’s enigmatic and highly esteemed masterpiece. “The Arnolfini Portrait” is exhibited at the National Gallery in London, England.
