Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child with Chancellor Rolin

Jan van Eyck’s Virgin and Child with Chancellor Rolin. Also called The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin.

Date: Around 1434

Commissioned by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of Burgundy for the his family chapel. It stayed there until 1793 when the chapel was destroyed. It is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

In the painting, on the left is Chancellor Rolin, he is wearing a gold brocade jacket with mink trimming, and his hair is in a bowl cut. He is kneeling on a prie dieu that is covered in purple velvet, symbolizing royalty, facing the Virgin and Jesus. The purple on the prie dieu and on the angel are also the colors of lent in the Roman Catholic church.

On the right, Mary is sitting holding baby Jesus on her lap. She is wearing a voluminous red robe that is embroidered with jewels. Behind her is an angel, hovering, holding a magnificent crown over her head. Jesus is sitting on her lap, holding his right hand up blessing the Chancellor. In his left hand he is holding globe of the world, which is a sign

of his power of creation, (www.louvre.fr.) Behind the Chancellor, Mary, and Jesus, are three ornate arches leading you out into a garden and balcony. The lilies and roses in the garden symbolize Mary’s virtues. Next to the garden are two

peacocks, which symbolize immortality, (www.wga.hu, "The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin.")
and Behind the garden is the balcony that is overlooking the river below. On either side of the river is the is the city. Each side is connected by the bridge over the river. Beyond the city are hills and farm land. The river curves through the land and in the distance are snow topped mountains.

Jan van Eyck was employed in the court of Philip the Good, as both an official and a painter. One of his jobs was to paint the portraits of princesses for whom Philip would choose his wife. He worked wonders painting in oil medium. Because of that, he had been credited with the invention of oil painting, but that is

incorrect; people had been painting with oils centuries before him. Some of his other paintings are, the Ghent Altarpiece and the Arnolfini Marriage. Jan’s brother Hubert had painted some of the panels of the Ghent Altarpiece, but he died leaving the piece unfinished. Jan than stepped in and completed the panels of the Altarpiece, (Stokstad, page 598.)

I picked the Virgin and Child with Chancellor Rolin, because I think it is a beautiful piece. The way Jan painted it, with the Chancellor, Mary, and Jesus in front, then the arches leading into the garden and balcony, and beyond that the city, river, and mountains makes it feel like I’m in the room. I like the two guys in the painting, looking over the balcony. Who are they and why did he put them in? It gives me something to think about.

Sources:

Stokstad, Mary. Art History. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc, 2008

Web Gallery of Art "The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin"

Louvre Museum “The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin.” <http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225618&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C %3Ecnt_id=10134198673225618&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500812&baseIndex=10&bmLocale=en>

Web Gallery of Art “Eyck, Jan van.” <http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/e/eyck_van/jan/biograph.html>