Portrait of Margaret van Eyck

Completed when Margaret van Eyck was around 34, it was hung until the early 18th century in the Bruges Chapel of the Guild of Painters.

Art historians believe it was once a pendant (diptych) panel for Jan's likely self-portrait in the National Gallery, London.

Her head is out of proportion to her body, and her forehead unusually and fashionably high, a device which allows the artist to concentrate on the facial features of his wife.

He inscribed plates on the top and ends of the frame in Greek lettering with the words, My husband Johannes completed me in the year 1439 on 17 June, at the age of 33.

Although the widow of a renowned painter and diplomat, Margaret was only given a modest pension by the city of Bruges after Jan's death.

It was paired as a pendant for a time with a self-portrait by van Eyck when two of his works were acquired by the chapel of the Guild of Saint Luke before 1769.

[12] However, art historian Max Friedländer warned against assumptions based on facial resemblance, believing that artists of the time may have projected the likeness of the women in their lives onto female subjects in their religious work.