In Jan van Eyck51²è¹Ý¶ùÌýVan der PaeleÌýVirginÌýthe figure reflected in St George51²è¹Ý¶ù shield did not receive any scholarly attention until the mid-twentieth century. Taken to be Van Eyck51²è¹Ý¶ù self-portrait, the reflection is usuallyÌýseen as analogous to its counterpart in the Arnolfini PortraitÌýdespite significant differences between the two images. This talk investigates the particularity of Van Eyck51²è¹Ý¶ù self-representation in the Van der Paele Virgin in terms of itsÌýfunction and meaning. Through consideration of the surface on which the reflection is depicted, the saint with whom it is associated, and the setting in which the painting was located and experienced, it will be argued that Van Eyck depicted himself in a highly self-conscious manner, closely linked both to his identity as a painter and to the desire, shared with his patron, for remembrance after death.
Douglas Brine is an Assistant Professor atÌýTrinity University, where he has taught since 2009. He undertook his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at The Courtauld, and has since held postdoctoral fellowships at The Courtauld Research Forum and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. He has recently published the book of his thesis, ,ÌýStudies in Netherlandish Art and Cultural History (Boston/Leiden: Brill, 2015); and his article in the Art Bulletin onÌý Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele and the Art of Commemoration won ³Ù³ó±ðÌý2015ÌýArthur Kingsley Porter Prize awarded by the College Art Association.