"Portret pary małżonków (Arnolfinich?)" Jana van Eycka : pomiędzy naukową a artystyczną reinterpretacją

Abstract

The 1434 Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck is a model example of reinterpretations made by scholars both under the influence of archival discoveries, which shed a new light on the scene painted by Van Eyck, as well as contemporary methodological strategies, which call into question the hitherto established interpretation. At times, this practice brings more serious consequences, which question the established model of art which the work of art in question is supposed to represent. The article engages with the most important interpretative strategies — from the classical conception of Erwin Panofsky to Lorne Campbell’s ideas — while discussing yet another aspect of reinterpreta-tion, which allows artists to create their own works of visual art. Van Eyck’s painting has become such a pretext for creating new narratives across a variety of media, such as installation (Lynn Hershman), painting (David Hockney), and conceptual works. The author of the article points to the reflexivity of those transformations — through creative reinterpretation, we give historical pieces of art meanings they have never possessed before.