Van Eyck: The Arnolfini Portrait

What makes The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck one of the best-known and reproduced works of art in the world? Exactly what mystery do we happen upon when we tiptoe into a houses's most private room, the bridal chamber? One by one, we stumble across hidden, unexpected details, meticulously reproduced thanks to the sensational realism of the painter's lens. Within the modest dimensions of an «intimate» scene, the artist manages to condense a microcosm of the universe and a study of daylight, and invites us almost physically into the room. The convex mirror painted on the back wall, a marvellous contrivance that enlarges the space and the figures, turns us into actors instead of spectators, magically transported into that timeless room. Finally, who are the personages portrayed? Are they really the Arnolfini couple?