Jan van Eyck was a Secret Agent for “Philip the Good”
Portrait of Jan van Eyck (1390-1441). Photo Credit Getty Images
One of the most iconic painters in the Early Netherlandish painters, Jan Van Eyck, is believed to have been born in Maaseik. Some even regard him as the founder of Early Netherlandish painting and the inventor of oil painting.
However, Stealing the Mystic Lamb – a book by Art Historian Noah Charney mentions that Jan Van Eyck worked as a spy for one of his patrons ‘Philip the Good’. Jan Van Eyck received huge sums of money that usually came along a note saying something like ‘secret’ or ‘special.’ These instances coincided with his visits to rival courts which lead Noah to reach this conclusion.