Brief Biography- Jan van Eyck was born in Maaseik, then known as Maaseyck, from where his name originated. He had two brothers, Lambert, and Hubert, who were also painters. Hubert, who was older by twenty years, would have instructed Jan. The two brothers worked on the Ghent altarpiece; however, Jan was to surpass Hubert in his talents. Hubert died in 1426.  In 1422, Jan van Eyck was in the service of John of Bavaria. On the death of John in 1425, the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, engaged him as valet de chambre and painter to the court. In 1427, he met Robert Campin and possibly Rogier van der Weyden at Tournai as a member of the Painter's Guild. Van Eyck undertook diplomatic journeys to Portugal, Spain, and secret places for the duke. He lived in Lille until 1429, when he moved to Bruges, where he married and lived for the remainder of his life.
Giorgio Vasari stated that Jan had discovered how to mix oil paint properly. The Reverend Pilkington wrote that Jan found in 1410 that colours prepared with linseed or walnut oil would retain their beauty and lustre without using varnish. However, scholars have since attributed the technique to both Hubert and Jan. On his death in 1441, they buried him in the churchyard of Saint Donatian, and his brother Lambert had his remains moved into the baptistry a year later. Many works known to be by Jan van Eyck are in galleries throughout Europe.