Wedding Secrecy

Jan Van Eyck’s, “The Arnolfini Marriage”, is filled with symbols and shows a secret forced marriage between a couple.  Because the female is pregnant, she is being forced to marry to restore her.  The focal point of the painting is the two figures in a room.  The figures are in the foreground and are bigger than everything else.  My eye was drawn specifically to the female figure. Because of her green dress with yellow trimming and her white headdress, she stands out.  She does not have her hand raised but it is resting on her stomach.  The lady seems to be pregnant. The lines on here dress lead up to her bulging stomach.   There are no parents and friends at the wedding.  It takes place in a small room, not in a church.  This shows the secrecy of the wedding.  The downcast eyes of the male figure suggest that he is not very happy.  His face is somber.  His facial expression shows no emotion and it appear

that does not want to be there. This is why the marriage is forced. 

Colors in this painting play an important role in telling the story.  The colors of the clothes on the man and on the wife contrasts how they are feeling.  The man is wearing black and brown and the woman is wearing green, yellow, and blue.  Because he is being forced to marry, he chooses darker colors.  His hat is black and gives a sense of being at a funeral.  The woman has on brighter clothing.  She looks serious but content.   Green is the color of grass and grass grows.  The female figure has something growing inside of here.  Her green dress is symbolic of her fertility.  She is wearing a blue gown under her dress.  This shows a feeling of calmness and her face hints to a slight calmness.  The red on the bed and chair illustrates lust and passion.  There is a pair of red sandals on the floor at the bed.  They look as if they had been worn by a woman and taken off earlier.  I think this shows that they woman was lustful and this is the reason she is pregnant. 

The images in the foreground are the two figures, the dog, and the man’s shoes.  The two figures are the overall focus of the painting.  Their hands meet in the middle and my eye is drawn to the mirror in the background.  In the mirror I see the whole room, outside the window and two other figures that are at the wedding.  They are not as important and it seems as though we are not really supposed to see them or know that they are there.  It is like they are hiding.  The mirror acts as a camera that has zoomed out.  I can see the trees outside and the sky.  I think the mirror I used to draw the viewer in and show the viewer the whole wedding scene.  I think that it also shows that now they can face the world because their sin has been resolved.  The dog is in the foreground.  He is a sign of faithfulness.  He shows their marital fidelity because now that the woman is pregnant, they are getting married.  The sandals on the floor refer to the marriage being holy.  In the Bible, God commands Moses to take off his shoes because he is standing on holy ground.  There is one candle lit in the chandelier.  This alludes to the presence of God at the wedding.  In the background there is a small cleaning broom.  This implies that something was dirty and has been cleaned.  I believe that this is saying that the couple’s relationship was sinful and now that they are getting married their relationship is now clean and right.  I can see part of a rug on the floor behind the woman. I think that this symbolizes that her sin was hidden under a rug but now she can reveal herself.  An open window in the back suggests that they are trying to find a way to escape from everything.  There is a piece of fruit on the window sill.  Fruit represent sin like in the story of Adam and Eve.  The piece in the window sill hints to their sin now being in the open because they are getting married.  There are more on the table behind the man.  I think this is to show that he has more hidden sins.  The male figure is positioned near the window suggesting that he is looking for a way to escape from the wedding.  The light from the open window is nearly the only light that illuminates the room.  This indicates that they do not have to hide anymore and that their future is brighter. 

  The circle and the rectangle are repeating images in the painting.  The rectangles are in the bed, the window, and the floor.  I think the rectangles show the confinement of the wedding.  They hint to the relationship being solid.  There are circles in the window pane, mirror, and rug.  The circles show the enclosure of the wedding and that they share something in common that no one else shares.  They have a bond that cannot be broken. 

This painting uses all of the space.  There is hardly any white space.  The room is cluttered but motionless.  When I look at this I feel saddened.  I do not see the happiness that comes when people are getting married.  The colors are not very vibrant and lively.  The room is dull and shadowed, and their faces are melancholy.  I feel a sense of love because their hands are joining.  I also think that the man holding the woman’s hand connects him to the child that is in her womb.  When I look into the mirror I see the whole marriage and seeing the two witnesses I feel as though I am not supposed to be there.  I am seeing something that is private. I think the painter wants us to feel this way because the wedding is a secret.  I think that it makes us want to also keep the wedding a secret in our mind. 

Overall the painting expresses the secrecy of a forced marriage.  The author is trying to get the viewer to understand the circumstances of this wedding.  The wedding secrecy, because of the pregnancy, is the focus.  Many symbols point to the marriage being forced.  It has a melancholy mood.  It is highly symbolic and captures a story.