Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban
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| Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban |
Jan van Eyck painted it as a self portrait. The inscription at the top of the frame is original. It contains his motto Als Ich Can (intended as the pun "as I/Eyck can"). Did he imply "as only I, van Eyck, can"? He signed some of the later paintings this way, but here it appears for the first time.
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Through mountains and sea
Welcome to this little odyssey
We just had chicken, you dined with me
Now I offer some lines of my poetry:
My head leans on the window of Caltrain
It’s 22nd St, a longing thought in my brain:
“Will I ever see John around here?”
I sit and dream you might appear -
Like flower dreams of morning sun
Like lips that crave that warm pork bun
But no.
It’s so unfair that I think of you so much
(though honestly, that’s what I like)
All I look forward to - is just a touch
(or maybe the Dish hike?)
When we embrace at our Palo Alto lunch
It’s warm and strong, just like Hong Kong
All I look forward to is your voice again
As memories of you firing off within my brain
All I want is to look into your eyes with no restraint
Like admiring the strokes of the master’s paint
Gazing at the Portrait of a Man in Red Turban
Hanging in the National Gallery in London
(that one I found, although observing only from the crowd)
Or when I saw your photo in that red-ish hoodie
And thought: “Gosh, he is such a cutie!”
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