ART-2030 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Jan Van Eyck
Document Summary
Definition: system of symbols used by a culture that changes over time. Example: arnel feeny marriage by jan van eyck (from amsterdam 1434, depicts a 36 year old man marrying a 14 year old girl) The girl"s dress is green since it is her first wedding. Green = fertility therefore the marriage will be fertile. Side note - pregnant belly was just high fashion at the time. The man"s coat sleeves are fur lined with ermine weasel/ferret. Fur lined = expensive dress, the man is rich. Reference to exodus when moses meets god and takes off his shoes because he is on hold ground. Also wealth because they were rich enough to import the fruit from spain. Shutters open = rich neighborhood, the sewage is underground and doesn"t smell so they would have been able to leave the shutters open. The girl will be in charge of servants. Side note: even the dutch aren"t sure what they mean,
