This book investigates Jan Van Eyck's patronage by the Crown of Portugal
and his role as diplomat-painter for the Duchy of Burgundy following his
first voyage to Lisbon in 1428-1429, when he painted two portraits of
Infanta Isabella, who became the third wife of Philip the Good in 1430.
New portrait identifications are provided for the Ghent Altarpiece
(1432) and its iconographical prototype, the lost Fountain of Life.
These altarpieces are analysed with regard to King Joao I's conquest of
Ceuta, achieved by his sons, who were hailed as an "illustrious
generation." Strong family ties between the dynastic houses of Avis and
Lancaster explain Lusitania's sustained fascination with Arthurian lore
and the Grail quest. Several chapters of this book are overlaid with a
chivalric veneer. A second "secret mission" to Portugal in 1437 by Jan
van Eyck is postulated and this diplomatic visit is related to Prince
Henry the Navigator's expedition to Tangier and King Duarte's attempts
to forge an alliance with Alfonso V of Aragon. Late Eyckian commissions
are reviewed in the light of this ill-fated crusade and additional new
portraits are identified. The most significant artist of Renaissance
Flanders appears to have been patronized as much by the House of Avis as
by the Duchy of Burgundy. Barbara von Barghahn is Professor of Art
History at George Washington University and a specialist in the art
history of Portugal, Spain, and their colonial dominions, as well as
Flanders. In 1993, she was conferred O Grao Comendador in the Portuguese
Order of Prince Henry the Navigator. She has spent nearly a decade
completing research about Jan van Eyck's diplomatic visits to the
Iberian Peninsula.
