Jan van Eyck’s ‘Arnolfini’ Portrait An essay written by a renowned art historian, Erwin Panofsky, discusses the controversy over a famous painting. The disputation was over the identification of the two people portrayed in the painting. The painting was a portrait thought to be Giovanni Arnofili and his wife, and the artist was Jan van Eyck. Panofsky wrote this essay to prove that this painting found in 1815, which he refers to as the “London …showed first 75 words of 1434 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1434 total…true. Panofsky proved the Arnolfini portrait to be historically important because it confirmed that a painting was in fact just one painting when for a long time it was doubted and thought to be two. By doing so, the origin of the “London” piece was discovered. All art history has an important impact on works of art. That is why it is essential to be sure the facts are facts, and the information is reliable.