Greatest Paintings: Dawn of the Dutch Golden Age - The Arnolfini Portrait

Feb 4, 2026 10 min

About this episode

Why is Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait perceived as one of the greatest mysteries of the arts? What elements and symbolisms provoke debates about its identity and meaning? And, what do we know about its provenance, its travels through European royal courts, and its influence on Diego Velázquez? In this new The Rest Is History Club series, Tom is joined by art critic and author Laura Cumming to discuss the histories behind famous paintings and put them in their historical contexts. To hear the full episode, and all the other exclusive new episodes from Laura and Tom's paintings series, coming out every Wednesday for the next four weeks, join The Rest is History Club at therestishistory.com FUTURE EPISODES.... Feb 11th: Las Meninas - Diego Velázquez Feb 18th: The Skating Minister - Henry Raeburn Feb 25th: The Angelus - Jean-François Millet _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek + Harry Swan Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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