A new assessment of the inventive and influential artist Jan van Eyck.

Jan van Eyck was one of the most inventive and influential artists in the entire European tradition. The phenomenal realism of his paintings, now six centuries old, still astounds observers in a world accustomed to high-resolution images. But other dimensions of his work are just as original and absorbing. Unlike any earlier artist, Van Eyck infused his paintings with himself. In addition to portraying, reflecting and implying his own presence in a variety of works, he also introduced his voice, hand and mind in an array of inscriptions, signatures and even a personal motto. Incorporating a wealth of new research and recent discoveries within a fresh exploration of the paintings themselves, this book reveals how profoundly Jan van Eyck transformed the very idea of what an artist could be.