Als ich can: How Jan van Eyck Extended the Vernacular from Dutch Poetry to Oil Painting

Abstract

In this chapter, the author identifies vernacular origins of the Dutch motto Als ich can , which Jan van Eyck inscribed on his self-portrait and several other paintings. Robert Scheller related Als ich can to the antique expression ut potui , non sicut volui , likening the motto's orthography to copied texts containing anagrams of scribes' names. The motto provides a key to understanding conceptual foundations van Eyck instituted for oil painting. The leader of vernacular literary proponents in the Netherlands was Jacob van Maerlant. The moral dimension of Dutch vernacular style comprised a salient critical component of devotional literature. Historical factors indicate that, throughout his career, van Eyck lived and worked in cultural atmospheres where Maerlant's literary reputation and writings were well known. Pictorial, literary, and biographical evidence demonstrates that van Eyck modeled his motto Als ich can on Maerlant's critical convention of validating his poetic methods in prologues to his works. Keywords: Als ich can ; Dutch poetry; Jacob van Maerlant; Jan van Eyck