Petrus Christus
*The Goldsmith in His Shop (Saint Eligius)*, 1449

A fashionable couple chooses a wedding ring at a goldsmith’s shop—an everyday scene in a Flemish town in the mid-15th century. But research has uncovered a surprise: the master’s face was painted from life, while the couple may have been invented. This is more than a genre scene; it may be a portrait of a real person disguised as Saint Eligius, patron saint of goldsmiths.

Historians believe the goldsmith could be Willem van Vleuten, court jeweler to the Duke of Burgundy. That same year, the duke commissioned a gift from him for the bride of the King of Scotland. Could this be the couple at the counter?

Look closely at the small convex mirror and you’ll spot two more figures reflected there, one carrying a falcon—a symbol of pride. In this subtle detail, the artist sets the viewer’s worldly vanity against the virtue within the shop.

Bright Bits