Jan van Eyck

About Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck (c. 1395–1441) was a revolutionary Early Netherlandish painter whose mastery of oil paint fundamentally advanced the medium. His sophisticated use of glazes allowed for an unprecedented realism, intricate detail, and luminous color in works such as the Ghent Altarpiece. This technical and artistic brilliance secures his position at #775 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index, recognizing his profound, lasting influence on Western art.

Despite this high historical ranking, Van Eyck's modern digital footprint is comparatively small. In 2025, his Wikipedia pages accrued approximately 252K views, resulting in an ~1x Attention Gap-indicating his online visibility is roughly proportional to his historical weight, which is a relatively low absolute number for such an influential figure. For contrast, a figure ranked significantly higher in historical importance, such as Hulagu Khan (#451), received only 70K views, suggesting that while Van Eyck's attention is 'appropriate' relative to his rank, the absolute digital interest remains modest. His 2025 Momentum saw a slight +4% increase in interest from Q1 to Q3, suggesting a small positive trend amidst overall modest engagement.