The surviving work of Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (c. 1395–1441) consists of a series of painstakingly detailed oil paintings of astonishing verisimilitude. Most explanations of the meanings behind these paintings have been grounded in a disguised religious symbolism that critics have insisted is foremost. But in Jan van Eyck, Craig Harbison sets aside these explanations and turns instead to the neglected human dimension he finds clearly present in these works. Harbison investigates the personal histories of the true models and participants who sat for such masterpieces as the Virgin and Child and the Arnolfini Double Portrait.

This revised and expanded edition includes many illustrations and reveals how van Eyck presented his contemporaries with a more subtle and complex view of the value of appearances as a route to understanding the meaning of life.

佛兰德画家扬-凡-艾克（Jan van Eyck，约1395-1441年）的现存作品包括一系列精心制作的油画，其真实性令人吃惊。对这些画作背后含义的大多数解释都是基于一种变相的宗教象征主义，批评家们坚持认为这是最重要的。但在《扬-凡-艾克》中，克雷格-哈比森将这些解释放在一边，转而研究他发现在这些作品中明显存在的被忽视的人类层面。哈比森调查了为《圣母子》和《阿诺菲尼双人肖像》等杰作担任模特和参与者的个人历史。

这个修订版和扩展版包括许多插图，并揭示了凡-艾克是如何向他的同时代人展示了一种更微妙、更复杂的观点，即把表象的价值作为理解生命意义的途径。