Girl in a Green Gown
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Review
`Hicks tells a truly fascinating story about image and ownership, based on diligent, well-digested research' --The Irish Times
`A brilliantly idiosyncratic investigation which alternates chapters internal to the picture (the fashions, the furniture, the oranges, the mirror) with chapters on its production and historical meanderings' --The Tablet
`no-one can write, and explain, like Hicks. Here her mastery is complete.' --The Spectator
`Meticulously weaving an analysis of the portrait with chapters devoted to political and social history' --Metro
`Hicks writes effortlessly, with a vast amount of information at her fingertips' --BBC History Magazine
`Full of intriguing information' --Daily Telegraph
`Girl in a Green Gown is a beguiling book' --The Times
`A brilliantly idiosyncratic investigation which alternates chapters internal to the picture (the fashions, the furniture, the oranges, the mirror) with chapters on its production and historical meanderings' --The Tablet
`no-one can write, and explain, like Hicks. Here her mastery is complete.' --The Spectator
`Meticulously weaving an analysis of the portrait with chapters devoted to political and social history' --Metro
`Hicks writes effortlessly, with a vast amount of information at her fingertips' --BBC History Magazine
`Full of intriguing information' --Daily Telegraph
`Girl in a Green Gown is a beguiling book' --The Times
Book Description
A fascinating exploration of one our best loved paintings, and the strange, dramatic history of its owners through time. Foreword by Grayson Perry.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a wonderful book. Anyone who has viewed the 'Arnolfini Portrait' in London's National Gallery must surely have been captivated by the painting. It is one of those works which makes you want to find out who the sitters were and why they had the painting commissioned. Carola Hicks, who finished writing the book just before her death, has done a fantastic job in tracing the history of the painting and its provenance. van Eyck's skill as a painter is without question - his 'Madonna and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele' is one of my favourite paintings. But the 'Arnolfini Portrait' has always been, for me, one of the most intriguing works ever painted. Her description of the two figures in the painting in the early chapter 'Followers of Fashion' is captivating. Subsequent chapters alternate between the history/provenance of the painter and further descriptions of the painting itself. Although she is on firmer ground when discussing history I still feel her dissection of the painting forms an important counterpoint to the historical narrative. She may not have been able to resolve the mystery of the sitters but she has produced a wonderful book. Highly recommended. (Once you've read it you would find it worthwhile to read 'From Flanders to Florence' by Paula Nuttal).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It's a small painting... and is on display at London's National Gallery in the Sainsbury Wing. I've viewed it a few times on the wall in a relatively dark corner of a room, along with other Flemish and medieval paintings. I've also seen parodies of the painting; certainly it is parodied almost as much as that other iconic picture of a couple, Grant Wood's "American Gothic". The painting I'm referring to is "The Arnolfini Portrait", painted by Jan van Eyck in 1434 and which is the subject of the late British art historian Carola Hicks' book, "Girl in a Green Gown".
Carola Hicks has written an almost compulsively readable book about the painting. She not only covers the painting and its subjects - the identities of whom are themselves open to conjecture - but she discusses the chain of owners of the painting. Owned by a succession of Habsburg rulers in Bruges, the picture eventually found its way to Spain when Charles V's sister - who had owned the painting - moved from Bruges to Madrid. Three centuries or so of being owned by members of the ongoing line of Habsburg, then French Bourbon, rulers, the painting was looted/taken/given (the exact details of the transfer from Spanish possession to British are a bit murky) after the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, when British forces under Wellington, defeated the Spanish/French army. A British Army officer ended up with the painting, which he eventually sold in 1842 to the British government, who were establishing a "National Gallery". The "Arnolfini" was quickly established by museum patrons and art historians as one of the Gallery's favorite paintings. Protected during two world wars, the work is now displayed, as I said, in a darkish corner of a room.
But however displayed, the "Arnolfini" continues to glow. From the green in the "bride'" gown to the red of the bed and to the more subdued colors of the "groom'" clothing, the painting is a feast to the viewer's eyes. Carola Hicks explains the details of the painting - from the colors used to the various small objects depicted. Everything in the painting had a meaning, and Hicks takes the reader back to the 15th century to explain them. The dog? The mirror with various reflections? Even the window and the importance of glass to a house of that period are explained by Hicks. Her book is not long - about 220 pages of text - but she covers everything from history to colors and dyes to mercantile trends. Her book is a wonderful look at a slice of European history from 1434 to present day. Like the painting it describes, the book is a gem.
Carola Hicks has written an almost compulsively readable book about the painting. She not only covers the painting and its subjects - the identities of whom are themselves open to conjecture - but she discusses the chain of owners of the painting. Owned by a succession of Habsburg rulers in Bruges, the picture eventually found its way to Spain when Charles V's sister - who had owned the painting - moved from Bruges to Madrid. Three centuries or so of being owned by members of the ongoing line of Habsburg, then French Bourbon, rulers, the painting was looted/taken/given (the exact details of the transfer from Spanish possession to British are a bit murky) after the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, when British forces under Wellington, defeated the Spanish/French army. A British Army officer ended up with the painting, which he eventually sold in 1842 to the British government, who were establishing a "National Gallery". The "Arnolfini" was quickly established by museum patrons and art historians as one of the Gallery's favorite paintings. Protected during two world wars, the work is now displayed, as I said, in a darkish corner of a room.
But however displayed, the "Arnolfini" continues to glow. From the green in the "bride'" gown to the red of the bed and to the more subdued colors of the "groom'" clothing, the painting is a feast to the viewer's eyes. Carola Hicks explains the details of the painting - from the colors used to the various small objects depicted. Everything in the painting had a meaning, and Hicks takes the reader back to the 15th century to explain them. The dog? The mirror with various reflections? Even the window and the importance of glass to a house of that period are explained by Hicks. Her book is not long - about 220 pages of text - but she covers everything from history to colors and dyes to mercantile trends. Her book is a wonderful look at a slice of European history from 1434 to present day. Like the painting it describes, the book is a gem.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the story of the Arnolfi portrait in the National Gallery in London. It is a dual detective story in that it considers both elements of the painting (the bed, the dog and so on) and also all the owners of the painting. The two elements are considered in alternate chapters which helps the pace of the book. There is also some interesting background on the National Gallery itself. Although the book is about a painting, I think it has a general appeal.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A real eye opener and a great read
I had always assumed the girl in Arnolfini's painting was very pregnant. To find out this probably wasn't the case was just one of the interesting facts revealed in this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by A. Magee
Shallow book, no enlarged illustrations
The book may be of use as a shallow (yet well written) introduction. It tries to cover both history and art history in 200 odd pages and the result is shallow- unavoidably, in my... Read more
Published 5 months ago by K. Brent
Girl in a Green Gown
Excellent and interesting research into this well-loved painting. We are very lucky to have it in this country. Very readable.
Published 6 months ago by hilary-leith
disappointing
This book received glowing praise in the press, and while I am not saying that it is in any way a bad book, it doesn't deserve the extravagant praise it has got. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Michael Scuffil
Girl in a green gown
I found this book absolutely fascinating and am recommending it to my friends. I now want to go and see the picture again
Published 6 months ago by R. Coward
Listmania!
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