In this painting, a couple are holding hands in the bedroom of a wealthy bourgeois interior, as evidenced by the bed with red hangings on the right, the piece of furniture on the left featuring oranges, a rare and expensive Renaissance fruit, and the prie-Dieu in the background.

In this couple, we wanted to see the Arnolfini couple. Giovanni Arnolfini was a Tuscan silk merchant who lived in Bruges.

But the painting was originally untitled. So why the Arnolfini? In Marguerite of Austria's inventory of 1516 and up to the 18th century, the man is called Hernoul-le-Fin. If his name has been associated with the merchant Arnolfini, Hernoul in the Renaissance means the cuckold, and Saint Arnoul is the patron saint of cheated husbands! It would be amusing to imagine this cuckolded husband posing with his wife, who wears the traditional Renaissance horned hairstyle, and his dog, an ironic symbol of marital fidelity...

The man, with one hand raised and the other holding his wife's, suggested that this was a wedding scene. But there are few people at this wedding, and certainly no priest... A secret marriage because of the wife's already pregnant state, as suggested by the hand placed on her rounded belly? Well, no! Until 1563 and the Council of Trent, a priest was not required for the sacrament of marriage. Last but not least, Madame is probably not pregnant. The fashion was for small breasts and prominent bellies, a sign of fertility. Women didn't hesitate to stuff dresses with a cushion to accentuate the shape. As for the hand, the rules of propriety required women to hold their hands over their stomachs in public as a sign of politeness and discretion.

Here, the secret may lie in the background. Look beyond the couple, on the wall is a mirror surmounted by an inscription: "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic 1434", Jan van Eyck was here in 1434. This could mean that the painter was a witness to this marriage, and that the painting has almost the value of a marriage certificate. Unless it's proof that van Eyck himself is depicted on the canvas with his wife Margaret...

As for the mirror, it's a "witch's mirror", a convex mirror with a slight curvature. These mirrors had the particularity of reflecting the entire room. Widely used by merchants, they were the forerunner of surveillance cameras. Approach the mirror. A little more... Not only can you see the couple, but also the two people facing them, the witnesses, one man in red and one in blue. Through the window, you can even see the sky and the garden. The mirror adds extraordinary depth to the picture!

But isn't this witch's mirror playing tricks on us? Come closer: the couple are no longer holding hands and the dog has disappeared! A simple mistake? Or the end of the couple?

A couple separated by death? Indeed, this work could be a post-mortem commission, intended to celebrate the memory of Arnolfini's late wife who died in childbirth. This might explain why, on the rich chandelier on the ceiling (did you notice?), there is only one candle, a symbol of life, on the husband's side...