A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

Plate 8.10: Jan van Eyck, Man in a Red Turban (1433). Compare this head with that of the idealized Mars
from imperial Rome (Plate 1.1 on p. 12), the gesturing Saint John of the Carolingians (Plate 3.8 on p. 110),
the jovial Saint Joseph of a Gothic cathedral (Plate 6.6 on p. 227), and the beautiful young Mars of the
Italian Renaissance (Plate 8.3 on p. 309). Only van Eyck paints his anonymous subject without idealizing or
beautifying him; the man’s worth and dignity derive only (but importantly) from his individuality.