The Wedding: An Encounter with Jan Van Eyck

Art Encounters

by Elizabeth M. Rees

Is the bride pregnant? Why does the groom look so old? What's reflected in the mirror? The Arnolfini Wedding is surely the most hotly debated painting of the Northern Renaissance—and one of the most beloved. In this historical novel, E. M. Rees weaves a rich story of love and honor that answers the questions about this great picture. At her first visit to the Duke's court, young Giovanna Cenami falls in love with a mysterious stranger employed by the famous Flemish painter Jan van Eyck. But Giovanna's romantic dreams are shattered when her father tells her she must marry a rich merchant to save them all from financial ruin. When she decides to pursue her own dreams, defying her family, she finds herself in grave danger of losing her reputation, her honor—and perhaps her life.




• The Arnolfini Wedding is one of the most famous and most debated paintings in the world


• Ties in to art curriculum and world history studies

Genres: Romance, Art, Renaissance, Historical Fiction, Young Adult

226 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2005

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3* of five

Review now at my blog.

[F. O. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably wouldn't have finished it if I hadn't been a captive audience -- I was at a workshop for 6 hours, 5 hours of which were spent waiting for the next station. The times were different, but it's still creepy for a thirty-something guy to fall in love with a 13-year-old and then wait a few years to marry her.

Also, they talk a lot about how lovely the protagonist/narrator is, and how incredible Van Eyck is for capturing her beauty. Do you SEE the face on the girl in the painting? Maybe this was a time when weak chins were considered desirable?

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

just enough intrigue and romance to make this an entertaining, quick read. esp because the painting really is fascinating, and I've had the opportunity to see it in person! Even though we are doing Van Eyck for our picture study right now, it has a bit too much mention of the "marriage bed" and the like for me to hand this over to my kids to read or as a family read-aloud. I'd say it's more appropriate for ages 18 and up.

[Jenni K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. Easy to read and understand the story behind the portrait, the symbolism and most importantly the hypothesis of who the young woman in green was and her story

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book when another book by a different author with the same last name wasn't on the shelf. It looked like it had promise, but I didn't expect much.

I found it to be incredibily well written. The story flowed very nicely. The main character sometimes annoyed me. She was a bit naive and I predicted which way the story would take me before I ever got there (It's kind of a Romeo and Juliet with a twist). But that was all right, because it was fun to read.

I originally gave it four stars, but it has kept me thinking for days after I finished it. For it's genre (YA) it is definitely at the top.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to find this book at a library book sale. The Arnolfini Portrait is one of my favorite paintings and I was interested to see what kind of story the author could weave with it. I was disappointed though. The story was terribly unbelievable and contained a ridiculous amount of cliches. My eyes nearly rolled out of my head when Angelo leaped up onto the convent roof to make his escape. This is one of those historic novels that places too much value on modern ideas of love and marriage. I read historic fiction to get a sense of what life may have been like back then. This was just a modern, cheesy love story placed in the fifteenth century.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harmless YA book for the 13-14 year old crowd. Based on enough hitsoric fact to not cause me to stop reading it; although, the intrigue and Romeo/Juliet theme was a bit too easy to see through. Sorry to be so critical it did its job for me--wanted to read books about Belgium,The Netherlands and Czech Republic while I traveled there.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't normally read this type of book. I only bought it because I love the painting it is based on. I really wanted to like it, but found it hard to get into. I had a hard time believing the characterization of Giovanni Arnolfini. He just looks too grim for me to believe he was that...nice? I guess? I don't know.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is about a painting w/ a little background. This book genre is historical fiction and has a scenes of sensuality.:P