'Reflections: Van Eyck & The Pre-Raphaelites' at the National Gallery

This afternoon I visited a preview of the latest exhibition at the National Gallery, 'Reflections: Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites'. It's in the Sunley Room so isn't very large - the space is divided into an entrance hallway introducing and explaining the exhibition and four small rooms. Here we see three early northern paintings by Memling, Bouts and Van Eyck.

The centrepiece is, of course, one of the National Gallery's own works, the marvellous 'Arnolfini Portrait' by Van Eyck. The painting was bought in 1842 when half of the main building was allotted to the Royal Academy and that's where the students first saw the painting. It was a group of these students who, a few years later, declared themselves to be Pre-Raphaelites and used Van Eyck's painting as their inspiration.

That would be a bit too straight forward to be the basis for the exhibition, however, and the curators have pushed deeper and focused on one aspect of the painting. The clue is in the title of the exhibition - 'reflections'. The theme of the exhibition is the influence of the mirror in the centre of the 'Arnolfini Portrait'. The mirror is incredibly detailed and, seen up close (very close) you can see the backs of the couple and also the artist painting them as well as the other side of the room. It really is splendid. That's the theme of most, but not all, of the paintings in this exhibition, and others focus on replicating the kind of detail and gloss that were Van Eyck's trademark.

The first painting to catch my eye was 'Mariana' by John Everett Millais from 1851. It's full of gorgeous, deep colours and has the kind of detail that shouts its influence by Van Eyck. Apparently, early sketches for this painting included a mirror on the wall reflecting Mariana's right side but that was changed for the final painting. The detail doesn't really come across very clearly in this reproduction but it's worth examining the painting up close if you can. The stained glass windows, the table-cloth, the sheen on Mariana's dress and the leaves strewn about the place are all worth noting. The good thing for me is that this is a painting I'm not familiar with unlike quite a few of the other paintings that come from the Tate collection (the exhibition is jointly put on by the National Gallery and Tate Britain).

Another painting that caught my eye was in a room full of paintings about the Lady of Shallott, and this painting was called 'I Am Half Sick Of Shadows Said The Lady of Shallott' by Sidney Meteyard from 1913. Yes, 1913 is a bit late to be considered a Pre-Raphaelite but at least the style is consistent. The Lady must make a tapestry of everything she sees in her magical mirror and this is what she's doing. The thing I liked about this one is simply the gorgeous blues of her dress (which aren't really adequately shown in this reproduction).

So yes, there are lots of paintings of mirrors and a few antique mirrors scattered about. I liked the use of long thin mirrors at the corners of some walls as part of the exhibition - glancing up and seeing a reflection of a painting behind you was a nice surprise.

The final painting of the exhibition is 'Still Life With Self Portrait' by Mark Gertler from 1918.  I was really surprised to see a painting by him as part of the exhibition but it fits in perfectly as we see his reflection in a mirror surrounded by fruit and other stuff.

A painting I was really puzzled by was 'Partial Copy of Las Meninas' by John Phillip from 1862. 'Las Meninas' by Velazquez hangs proudly in the Prado in Madrid and is one of the artists greatest works. Phillip's copy is only of the left-hand side of the painting and, on the wall in the centre of the painting, is a mirror showing the reflections of the king and queen of Spain. Ah, so that's the link and why this painting is included in the exhibition! But then I learned that the 'Arnolfini Portrait' was actually in the royal collection of Spain before Napoleon Bonaparte's brother stole it and so Velazquez almost certainly would have seen it and adopted the motif of the mirror. How intriguing. You never know what you might learn at an exhibition.

So there you go, some first thoughts on the exhibition that opens on Monday. It's not one of the best but there was enough of interest to keep me engaged.

The final exhibit that I looked at was a reproduction of the Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck and his brother. I assume it was there as another example of the incredible detail Van Eyck included in his painting and it is a marvel to see, especially since it includes the back of the wings (not shown here in this reproduction) that you see when the altarpiece is closed. Now, if you could put on an exhibition with this altarpiece...