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Showing posts with the label Jan van Eyck

Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...

Secrets of the Paintings, part III

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Today's painting might not have so many secrets, but more of symbolism in it. It is The Arnolfini Portrait (also know as The Arnolfini Wedding among other similar titles) and is an oil painting on oak panel dated 1434. It was painted by the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (ca 1390-1441). To paint in oil was a new trend at this time, and he has sometimes been said to be the "inventor" of oil painting. He also used optical phenomena to highlight the painting. The Arnolfi Portrait The painting is believed to represent the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and possibly his wife, presumably in their home in the Flemish city of Bruges (present day Belgium). Here some hidden messages to mostly reveal the status of the people portrayed.