At a modest 86cm by 60cm, The Arnolfini Portrait \u2013 as it is commonly known \u2013 is far from the National Gallery\u2019s largest painting, but it is certainly one of its most intriguing. Not for nothing has it been described as one of the greatest examples of Early Northern Renaissance art.<\/p>\n

On first glance, the painting \u2013 oil on wood \u2013 appears to depict a wealthy couple in a domestic setting, the bed perhaps indicating that they are in a bedchamber. End of story? Far from it, says Dr Emma Capron, associate curator of Renaissance painting at the National Gallery, London.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Arnolfini Portrait is completely unique,\u201d says Capron. \u201cThere is nothing else like it that has survived in 15th-century art. For a long time, it was thought to depict the Italian merchant Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini. But more recently, art historian Lorne Campbell has argued that the figures are more likely to be his merchant cousin, Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his second wife, whose identity is unknown. They all resided in Bruges.\u201d<\/p>\n