Jan van Eyck is a Flemish artist, a vivid representative of Northern Renaissance painting. Desiring to enhance the realism of his paintings, he and his brother came up with oil paints.
Biography: early years
Jan van Eyck was born in the town of Maaseik, now it is the territory of modern Netherlands. The year of his birth is not known exactly. Presumably he was born in 1390. His older brother Hubert was also an artist. In many ways, it was he who influenced the formation of Jan as a painter. Hubert instilled in him a love of drawing. He also taught him the first lesson in painting. Subsequently, the van Eyckee brothers worked together for a long time, painting the altars in the cathedrals.
It is also known that Jan at the beginning of his career made miniatures with biblical scenes for the Duke Johann of Bavaria. They became one of his first works, therefore they were executed in the medieval tradition.
