Portrait of Giovanni
Arnolfini and his Wife
Jan van Eyck, 1434
Copyright The National
Gallery, London
Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini
Portrait includes a
beautifully painted mirror
in the background in
which we see the backs of
the two figures who are
facing us. Looking at it
carefully we see the room
in which they are standing,
and we also realise that
our own reflection should
be there in the empty
space. We are drawn into
the work, because the
artist builds our
expectations but then
denies us the sense
of resolution.