A Man and a Woman by Robert Campin at the National Gallery Museum in London, England. A man and a woman, clearly husband and wife, gaze towards each other. We donââ¬Ët know who they were, but their clothes, which are not excessively rich, suggest that they were relatively prosperous townspeople. The clarity and credibility of these portraits, which were designed as a pair, is astonishing ââ¬â but they do more than reflect how the sitters looked.
Campinââ¬â¢s ability to convey textures of skin, fur and fabric means that we are not immediately aware of the skill with which he arranged the sittersââ¬â¢ clothes and even their features. These are highly ordered geometric compositions devised to show us what the couple were like: an older, world-weary man and a bright, optimistic young woman. The man slouches and the drooping lines of his face are echoed by his clothes; the womanââ¬â¢s skin is smooth, her eyes are bright and her features and clothes form rising lines.
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