Jan van Eyck
Maaseik 1380/ 1400 - Bruges 1441
1437
oil on panel
31 x 18 cm
Inventory number 410
This panel by the Flemish Primitive painter
Jan van Eyck tells the story of Saint Barbara. Her father, a Syrian nobleman and
pagan, wanted no-one to lay eyes on his daughter, so he locked her up in a fortified tower, where
she led a life of luxury. When her father wanted to give her in marriage, she refused. Hoping to
make her change her mind, he occasionally gave her permission to leave the tower. During one of
these outings, Barbara converted to Christianity. As a symbol of the Holy Trinity, she had a third
window opening made in her prison. Enraged, her father handed her over to the governor, who had her
tortured. But to no avail, for every night her wounds would heal. In the end, she was condemned to
death and beheaded by her own father.
In the painting, Barbara, a Christian martyr, is shown with a prayer book. The palm branch in
her left hand symbolises her triumph over death. Barbara did, after all, choose for Jesus and
eternal life. Behind her, labourers are constructing a monumental Gothic spire, a symbol for the
rise of Christianity.
Deadcolouring
The extremely fine detail of the deadcolouring or underpainting is unique and innovative. After having completed the sky, van Eyck appears to have interrupted his work. Saint Barbara is considered to be the oldest unfinished panel in Netherlandish art. Nonetheless, the artist signed the painting, which raises the intriguing possibility that he regarded the work as finished.
