"Carola Hicks invests what she calls “the Arnolfini portrait” with a great deal of meaning, and explains at some length what Jan Van Eyck was trying to do when he painted it. Even as she dismisses alternative interpretations, however, she keeps reminding us of the exquisite mastery and the profound influence exhibited by this little wooden panel, measuring less than 2 feet by 3" (Theodore K. Rabb, The Times Literary Supplement, 26 October 2011)