I bought a print of 'The Marriage ...' by Jan Van Eyck. On the back it says plate 10. Does it hold any value

Question

I found it in an antique store, didn't pay very much for it. I just cant figure out how many plates were made, how old it may be, etc.

Answer 1

If, as I suspect, you mean, "The Arnolfini Marriage" by Jan van Eyck (see Link 1 below) then this was painted in 1434.

This date is way before anyone was capable of printing copies of paintings (Gutenberg only started with movable type in 1452) - so those who have answered you telling you that your print is a limited edition produced by the artist are, I'm afraid, talking utter nonsense.

Some later artists copied master works as mezzotints (a type of engraving method) and the earliest known of these is 1642. (see Link 2 below). There is an extremely outside chance that your print could be one of these, but this is very unlikely and without any provenance (ie. documentation) proving what it is and where it came from, no-one would touch it.

It is most likely that your print comes from a series of works produced for the mass market and that "The Arnolfini Marriage" happened to be Plate 10 in the series (ie. Plate 9 could have been "The Haywain", Plate 7 the "Mona Lisa" and so on).

Sorry this is not news that you are now a multi-millionaire, but at least you have a print of one the most famous Western European artworks ever produced.

Answer 2

I think you're refering to a print of the oil painting "the Arnolfini Marriage", is that right?

Unfortunately no, it probably has no particular value such as you would associate with a limited edition print made by the artist. This is not a print made by a traditional print making process, such as copper plate etching, but a copy of a painting that was almost certainly mass produced on a printing press long after the artist's death. In fact even though you found it in an antique store, if it's on canvas it's probably a glicee, which means it was printed off a computer on an ink jet printer.

Plate number 10 doesn't mean anything. If it was a real limited edition print it would be number 10 /slash something, say 100 if 100 prints were made in total, and it would be hand signed and dated by the artist.

If you enjoy the print, that's the value of it. In terms of re-selling it's probably not much of an investment.

Answer 3

From Gardner's Art Through the Ages (pp. 576-578). It gives you a standard textbook account of the painting: "The intersection of the secular and religious in Flemish painting also surfaces in Jan van Eyck's double portrait Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride. Van Eyck depicts the Lucca financier (who had established himself in Bruges as an agent of the Medici family) and his betrothed in a Flemish bedchamber that is simultaneously mundane and charged with the spiritual. As in the Mérode Altarpiece , almost every object portrayed conveys the event's sanctity, specifically, the holiness of matrimony. Arnolfini and his bride, Giovanna Cenami, hand in hand, take the marriage vows. The cast-aside clogs indicate this event is taking place on holy ground. The little dog symbolizes fidelity (the common canine name Fido originated from the Latin fido, "to trust"). Behind the pair, the curtains of the marriage bed have been opened. The bedpost's finial (crowning ornament) is a tiny statue of Saint Margaret, patron saint of childbirth. From the finial hangs a whisk broom, symbolic of domestic care. The oranges on the chest below the window may refer to fertility, and the all-seeing eye of God seems to be referred to twice. It is symbolized once by the single candle burning in the left rear holder of the ornate chandelier and again by the mirror, where viewers see the entire room reflected. The small medallions set into the mirror's frame show tiny scenes from the Passion of Christ and represent God's ever-present promise of salvation for the figures reflected on the mirror's convex surface. Van Eyck enhanced the documentary nature of this painting by exquisitely painting each object. He carefully distinguished textures and depicted the light from the window on the left reflecting off various surfaces. The artist augmented the scene's credibility by including the convex mirror, because viewers can see not only the principals, Arnolfini and his wife, but also two persons who look into the room through the door. One of these must be the artist himself, as the florid inscription above the mirror, "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic," announces he was present. The picture's purpose, then, seems to have been to record and sanctify this marriage. Although this has been the traditional interpretation of this image, some scholars recently have taken issue with this reading, suggesting that Arnolfini is conferring legal privileges on his wife to conduct business in his absence. Despite the lingering questions about the precise purpose of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride, the painting provides viewers today with great insight into both van Eyck's remarkable skill and Flemish life in the fifteenth century."

Answer 4

I'm no expert but I know something of painting. If this is the 10th print of an orginal Van Eyck, it is worth some big bucks.

Answer 5

'Sophist' is incorrect. Plate 10 indicates that there were at least 10 ENTIRE EDITIONS made. Each edition used one plate, then they made ANOTHER plate for the next edition. A 10th plate (or state) is a VERY late impression, and is not worth much of anything. You would want an early impression, like Plate 1-3.

Answer 6

that means that it is a print of the original and that it was the tenth one pulled.....im not sure if it is worth alot of $. it is prob worth some but not as much as an original would be