Van Eyck

Résumé du livre

The fame of the Van Eyck brothers has transcended the limitations of time and space. Their works are a source of light -- inexhaustible, life-giving -- which still illuminate Western civilization, they express, with the greatest artistic sensibility, their own genius and that of the Low Countries of their time. The author has brought a keen critical approach to this study of the immortal painters. Rather than merely summarizing the vast amount of existing literature on the Van Eyck's, she has discarded the errors of the past, winnowed out much suspect information, and suggested possible new topics of inquiry. Among the areas new light has been shed upon are: the lives of all the members of this illustrious family; the supposed invention of oil painting by Jan; and the brothers' collaboration on the masterwork The Altarpiece of the Mystic Lamb. Special attention is of course given to Jan, the better-known of the two; an extensive listing and analysis of his paintings is presented. The illustrations are of the highest quality, as is necessary when presenting work of such fine detail as the Van Eycks'. -- Inside jacket flap.