Portrait of a Man in a Turban (actually a chaperon), possibly a self-portrait, 1433.

Jan van Eyck (or Johannes de Eyck) (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjÉ‘n vÉ‘n ˈɛjk]) (before c. 1395 – before 9 July 1441) was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and is generally considered one of the most significant Northern European painters of the 15th century. The few surviving records indicate that he was born around 1390, most likely in Maaseik. Little is known of his early life, but his activities following his appointment to the court of Philip the Good c. 1425 are comparatively well documented. Van Eyck had previously served John of Bavaria-Straubing, then ruler of Holland, Hainault and Zeeburg. By this time van Eyck had assembled a workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace in The Hague. He moved to Bruges sometime around 1425 and there came to the attention of Philip the Good. He served as both court artist and diplomat and became a senior member of the Tournai painters' guild, where he enjoyed the company of similarly esteemed artists such as Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden. Over the following decade van Eyck's reputation and technical ability grew, mostly from his innovative approaches towards the handling and manipulating of oil paint. His revolutionary approach to oil was such that a myth, perpetuated by Giorgio Vasari, arose that he had invented oil painting.^[1][2]

It is known from historical record that van Eyck was considered a revolutionary master across northern Europe within his lifetime; his designs and methods were heavily copied and reproduced. His motto, one of the first and still most distinctive signatures in art history, "ALS IK KAN" ("AS I CAN") first appeared in 1433 on Portrait of a Man in a Turban, which is most likely a self portrait and indicative of his emerging self confidence at the time. The years between 1434 and 1436 are generally considered his high point when he produced works including the Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, Lucca Madonna and Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele. That year he married the much younger Margaret. Records from 1437 on suggest that he was held in high esteem by the upper ranks of Burgundian nobility while also accepting many foreign commissions. He died young in July 1441, leaving behind many unfinished works to be completed by workshop journeymen; works that are nevertheless today considered major examples of Early Netherlandish painting.^[3] His local and international reputation was aided by his ties to the then political and cultural influence of the Burgundian court.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Neither the date or place of Jan van Eyck's birth are documented. The first extant record of his life comes from the court of John of Bavaria at The Hague, where payments were made to Meyster Jan den malre (Master Jan the painter) between 1422 and 1424 who was then a court painter with the rank of valet de chambre, with at first one and then two assistants.^[4] This suggests a date of birth of 1395 at the latest. However, his apparent age in the London probable self-portrait of 1433 suggests to most scholars a date closer to 1380.^[5] He was identified in the late 1500s^[6] as having been born in Maesheyck, diocese of Liège. This claim still considered credible on etymological grounds, considering his surname translates as "of Eyck". The claim is supported by the fact that his daughter Lievine was in a nunnery in Maaseyck after her father's death.^[7] It is not known where he was educated, but his use of Greek and Hebrew alphabets in many of the inscriptions in his works indicate that he had been schooled in the classics. From the coats of arms on his tombstone it is believed he came from the gentry class.^[5]

Jan van Eyck has often been linked as brother to painter and peer Hubert van Eyck, because both have been thought to originate from the same town in Belgium. One of Jan's most famous works, the Ghent Altarpiece, is believed to be a collaboration between the two, begun c. 1420 by Hubert and completed by Jan in 1432. Another brother, Lambert, is mentioned in Burgundian court documents, and there is a conjecture that he too was a painter, and that he may have overseen the closing of Jan van Eyck's Bruges workshop.^[8] Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France, Barthélemy van Eyck, is presumed to be a relation.

Van Eyck is often thought to be the anonymous artist known as Hand G of the Turin-Milan Hours.^[9] If this is correct, the Turin illustrations are the only known works from his early period. Most of these miniatures were destroyed by fire in 1904 and survive only in photographs and copies.

Maturity and success[link]

Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele, 1434, one of the most well known and renowned examples of Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting.

Following the death of John of Bavaria, in 1425 van Eyck entered the service of the powerful and influential Valois prince, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. He resided in Lille for a year and then moved to Bruges, where he lived until his death in 1441. A number of documents published in the twentieth century record his activities in Philip's service. He was sent on several missions on behalf of the Duke, and worked on several projects which likely entailed more than painting. With the exception of two portraits of Isabella of Portugal, which van Eyck painted at Philip's behest as a member of a 1428-9 delegation to seek her hand, the precise nature of these works is obscure.

As court painter and "valet de chambre" to the Duke, Jan van Eyck was exceptionally well paid. His annual salary was quite high when he was first engaged, but it doubled twice in the first few years, and was often supplemented by special bonuses. His salary alone makes Jan van Eyck an exceptional figure among early Netherlandish painters, since most of them depended on individual commissions for their livelihoods. An indication that Van Eyck's art and person were held in extraordinarily high regard is a document from 1435 in which the Duke scolded his treasurers for not paying the painter his salary, arguing that van Eyck would leave and that he would nowhere be able to find his equal in his "art and science." The Duke also served as godfather to one of van Eyck's children, supported his widow upon the painter's death, and years later helped one of his daughters with the funds required to enter a convent.

Style[link]

Annunciation, 1434-1436, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Jan van Eyck produced paintings for private clients in addition to his work at the court. Foremost among these is the Ghent Altarpiece painted for Jodocus Vijdts and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. Started sometime before 1426 and completed, at least partially, by 1432, this polyptych has been seen to represent "the final conquest of reality in the North", differing from the great works of the Early Renaissance in Italy by virtue of its willingness to forgo classical idealization in favor of the faithful observation of nature.^[10]

Exceptionally for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his paintings frames, then considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together, and while the frames were constructed by a body of craftsmen separate to the master's workshop, their work was often considered as equal in skill to that of the painters).

Reputation and legacy[link]

In the earliest significant source on van Eyck, a 1454 biography in Genoese humanist Bartolomeo Facio's De viris illustribus, Jan van Eyck is named "the leading painter" of his day. Facio places him among the best artists of the early 15th century, along with Rogier van der Weyden, Gentile da Fabriano, and Pisanello. It is particularly interesting that Facio shows as much enthusiasm for Netherlandish painters as he does for Italian painters. This text sheds light on aspects of Jan van Eyck's production now lost, citing a bathing scene owned by a prominent Italian, but mistakenly attributing to van Eyck a world map painted by another.^[11] Facio records that van Eyck was a learned man, and that he was versed in the classics, particularly Pliny the Elder's work on painting. This is supported by records of an inscription from Ovid's Ars Amatoria, which was on the now-lost original frame of the Arnolfini Portrait, and by the many Latin inscriptions in van Eyck paintings, using the Roman alphabet, then reserved for educated men. Jan van Eyck likely had some knowledge of Latin for his many missions abroad on behalf of the Duke.

Jan van Eyck died in Bruges in 1441 and was buried in the Church of St Donatian, which was later destroyed during the French Revolution.

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jan van Eyck

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jan van Eyck

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Eyck, van.

• A Closer Look at Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child with Chancellor Rolin (Louvre museum)
• Centre for the Study of Fifteenth-Century Painting in the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège List of works
• Jan van Eyck Gallery at MuseumSyndicate
• Flemish Art Collection: Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele, a masterpiece by van Eyck
• Closer to Van Eyck (The Ghent Altarpiece in 100 billion pixels)

v t e Jan van Eyck The Stygmata of St. Francis (c. 1428-1430) Â· Portrait of a Goldsmith (c. 1428-1430) Â· Ghent Altarpiece (with Hubert van Eyck) (1432) Â· Léal Souvenir (1432) Â· Portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati (1432) Â· Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) (1433) Â· Annunciation (c. 1434-1436) Â· Arnolfini Portrait (1434) Â· Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy (c 1435) Â· Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (1435) Â· Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy (c. 1435) Â· Portrait of a Man with Carnation (1435) Â· Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini (1435) Â· Lucca Madonna (1436) Â· Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele (1436) Â· Portrait of Jan de Leeuw (1436) Â· Saint Barbara (1436) Â· Madonna in the Church (1438) Â· Portrait of Margaret van Eyck (1439) Â· Madonna at the Fountain (1439) Â· Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych (c 1440) Â· Annunciation (c 1440) Â· Portrait of Christ (1440) Â· Saint Jerome in His Study (1442)

Ian Lester Howell (born May 20, 1958 in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa) is a South African cricket umpire. As a player he played first-class cricket for Border and Eastern Province in South Africa. A left-hand batsman and a left-arm medium bowler he played 119 first-class games scoring 3767 runs with 5 hundreds and 13 fifties and a batting average of 26.90. His top score was 115 not out. He took 243 first-class wickets with 5 five-wicket hauls with a best of 6/38 and a bowling average of 35.74.^[1]

International Umpiring Career[link]

Howell has been a member of the International Cricket Council's panel of International Umpires since 2002. He is eligible to officiate in ODI's in South Africa as the home umpire, and as the TV umpire in Test matches. In December 2006 he replaced Mark Benson on-field during a Test match in Centurion when Benson was taken to hospital with heart palpitations, making him the first person to umpire in a Test match in his native country since the introduction of the Elite Panel of umpires in 2002. Howell is also regularly appointed by the ICC to stand in Test matches and ODI's away from South Africa to support the ICC Elite umpire panel at busy times in the cricket calendar. Howell was also appointed to the group stage of the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, and officiated in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship which took place in his native South Africa.

Umpiring Statistics[link]

References[link]

This biographical article related to South African cricket is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres, Los Angeles, October 4, 2011
Birth name	Ellen Lee DeGeneres
Born	(1958-01-26) January 26, 1958 (age 54) Metairie, Louisiana, United States
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Years active	1981 – present
Influences	Steve Martin,[1] Woody Allen,[1] Bob Newhart,[1] Johnny Carson
Spouse	Portia de Rossi (2008–present)
Domestic partner(s)	Anne Heche (1997–2000) Alexandra Hedison (2001–2004)
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series 1997 Ellen Outstanding Talk Show 2004 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment 2010 The Ellen Degeneres Show 2011 The Ellen Degeneres Show Outstanding Special Class Writing 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Outstanding Talk Show Host 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2008 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Female Stand-Up Comic 1991 Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special 1994 46th Primetime Emmy Awards 2000 Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning
Saturn Award
Best Supporting Actress (film) 2003 Finding Nemo
Teen Choice Awards
Best Comedian 2011

Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( /dɨˈdÊ’É›nÉ™rÉ™s/; born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

DeGeneres has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong, appeared in EDtv and The Love Letter, and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar animated film Finding Nemo, for which she was awarded a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first and only time a voice performance won a Saturn Award. She was a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season. She also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002. During the fourth season of Ellen in 1997, DeGeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey, and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues including the coming out process. She has won thirteen Emmys and numerous other awards for her work and charitable efforts.

In November 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named her a Special Envoy for Global AIDS Awareness.^[2]

Early life and education[link]

DeGeneres was raised in Metairie, Louisiana, the daughter of Elizabeth Jane DeGeneres (née Pfeffer), a speech therapist, and Elliott Everett DeGeneres, an insurance agent.^[3][4] She has one brother, Vance DeGeneres, who is a producer and musician. She is of French, English, German and Irish descent. DeGeneres was raised as a Christian Scientist until the age of thirteen. In 1973, DeGeneres's parents filed for separation and were divorced the following year. Shortly after, Betty Jane remarried Roy Gruessendorf, who worked as a salesman. Betty Jane and Ellen moved with Gruessendorf from the New Orleans area to Atlanta, Texas. Vance stayed with their birth father.

DeGeneres graduated from Atlanta High School in May 1976, after completing her first years of high school at Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana. She moved back to New Orleans to attend the University of New Orleans, where she majored in communication studies. After one semester, she left school to do clerical work in a law firm with her cousin Laura Gillen. She also held a job selling clothes at the chain store the Merry-Go-Round at the Lakeside Shopping Center.^{[citation needed]} Other working experiences included J.C. Penney,^[5] being a waitress at TGI Friday's and another restaurant, a house painter, a hostess, and a bartender. She relates much of her childhood and career experiences in her comedic work.

Ancestry[link]

On a February 9, 2011, episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, DeGeneres told her studio audience via a letter from the New England Genealogical Society that she is Kate Middleton's 15th cousin via their shared common ancestor Thomas Fairfax.^[6]

Stand-up comedy[link]

DeGeneres started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffee houses. By 1981 she was the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club in New Orleans. DeGeneres cites Woody Allen and Steve Martin as her main influences at this time.^[1] In the early 1980s she began to tour nationally, being named Showtime's Funniest Person in America in 1982.^[7] In 1986 she appeared for the first time on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, who likened her to Bob Newhart.^[1] When Carson invited her over for an onscreen chat after her performance, she became the first comedienne in the show's history to be treated this way.^[7]

Film career[link]

Early screen work[link]

Ellen DeGeneres at the Emmy Awards, 1997

Television and film work in the late 1980s and early 1990s included roles on television in Open House and in the film Coneheads. In 1992, producers Neal Marlens and Carol Black cast DeGeneres in their sitcom Laurie Hill, in the role of Nurse Nancy MacIntyre. The series was canceled after only four episodes, but Marlens and Black were so impressed with DeGeneres' performance that they soon cast her in their next ABC pilot, These Friends of Mine, which they co-created with David S. Rosenthal.

[edit] Ellen's Energy Adventure

DeGeneres starred in a series of films for a show named Ellen's Energy Adventure, which is part of the Universe of Energy attraction and pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot. The film also featured Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, Michael Richards, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The show revolved around DeGeneres's falling asleep and finding herself in an energy-themed version of Jeopardy!, playing against an old rival, portrayed by Curtis, and Albert Einstein. The next film had DeGeneres hosting an educational look at energy, co-hosted with Nye. The ride first opened on September 15, 1996, as Ellen's Energy Crisis, but was quickly renamed to the more positive-sounding Ellen's Energy Adventure.

Television career[link]

[edit] Ellen (1994–1998)

At the Governor's Ball after the 46th Annual Emmy Awards telecast, Sept. 1994

DeGeneres's comedy material became the basis of the successful 1994–1998 sitcom Ellen, named These Friends of Mine during its first season. The ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres's style of observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female Seinfeld."^[8]

Ellen reached its height of popularity in February 1997, when DeGeneres made her homosexuality public on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Subsequently her character on the sitcom came out of the closet in April to her therapist, played by Oprah Winfrey, revealing that she is gay.^[9] The coming-out episode, titled "The Puppy Episode", was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show. Later episodes of the series did not match its popularity, and after declining ratings, the show was canceled. DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit, and later re-established herself as a successful talk show host.

[edit] The Ellen Show

DeGeneres returned to series television in 2001 with a new CBS sitcom, The Ellen Show.

[edit] The Ellen DeGeneres Show

DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2003. Amid a crop of several celebrity-hosted talk shows surfacing at the beginning of that season, such as those of Sharon Osbourne and Rita Rudner, her show has consistently risen in the Nielsen ratings and received widespread critical praise. It was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 25 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air. DeGeneres is known for her dancing and singing with the audience at the beginning of the show and during commercial breaks. She often gives away free prizes and trips to her studio audience with the help of her sponsors.

DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show in February 2006. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign.

In May 2006, DeGeneres made a surprise appearance at the Tulane University commencement in New Orleans. Following George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the podium, she came out in a bathrobe and furry slippers. "They told me everyone would be wearing robes," she said. Ellen then went on to make another commencement speech at Tulane in 2009.^[10]

The show broadcast for a week from Universal Studios Orlando in March 2007. Skits included DeGeneres going on the Hulk Roller Coaster Ride and the Jaws Boat Ride.

In May 2007, DeGeneres was placed on bed rest due to a torn ligament in her back. She continued hosting her show from a hospital bed, tended to by a nurse, explaining "the show must go on, as they say." Guests sat in hospital beds as well.

On May 1, 2009, DeGeneres celebrated her 1000th episode, featuring celebrity guests such as Oprah, Justin Timberlake, and Paris Hilton, among others.

[edit] American Idol

On September 9, 2009, it was confirmed that DeGeneres would replace Paula Abdul as a judge of the ninth season of American Idol. Her role started after the contestant auditions, at the beginning of "Hollywood Week".^[11][12] It is reported that DeGeneres also signed a contract to be a judge on the show for at least five seasons.^[13] She made her American Idol debut on February 9, 2010.

On July 29, 2010, DeGeneres and Fox executives announced that the comedienne would be departing from the series after one season. In a statement, DeGeneres said that the series "didn't feel like the right fit for me".^[14]

Award shows[link]

2001 Emmy Awards[link]

DeGeneres received wide exposure on November 4, 2001, when she hosted the televised broadcast of the Emmy Awards. Presented after two cancellations due to network concerns that a lavish ceremony following the September 11, 2001 attacks would appear insensitive, the show required a more somber tone that would also allow viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres received several standing ovations for her performance that evening, which included the line: "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?"

In August 2005, DeGeneres hosted the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony held on September 18, 2005. This was three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, making it the second time she hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. She also hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and in 1997.

Ellen DeGeneres in 2004

79th Academy Awards[link]

On September 7, 2006, DeGeneres was selected to host the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on February 25, 2007.^[15] This makes her the first openly gay or lesbian person to have hosted the event. During the Awards show, DeGeneres said, "What a wonderful night, such diversity in the room, in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion, and sexual orientation. And I want to put this out there: If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars, or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that."^[16] Reviews of her hosting gig were positive, with one saying, "DeGeneres rocked, as she never forgot that she wasn't just there to entertain the Oscar nominees but also to tickle the audience at home."^[17] Regis Philbin said in an interview that "the only complaint was there's not enough Ellen."

DeGeneres was nominated for an Emmy Award as host of the Academy Awards broadcast.^[18]

2007 Writers Guild strike[link]

DeGeneres, like many actors who are also writers, is a member of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Thus, although DeGeneres verbally supported the 2007 WGA strike, she did not support it when she crossed the picket line the day after the strike began.^[19][20] Her representatives said she was competing with other first-run syndicated shows during the competitive November sweeps period, and that she could not break her contracts or risk her show's losing its time slot. As a show of solidarity with the strikers, DeGeneres omitted her monologue during the strike, typically written by WGA writers.^[21] The WGA condemned her while the AFTRA defended her.^{[22][23][24][25]}

Other ventures[link]

Ellen at Tulane University in 2009

Voice acting[link]

DeGeneres lent her voice to the role of Dory, a fish with short-term memory loss, in the summer 2003 hit animated Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo. The film's director, Andrew Stanton, claimed that he chose Ellen because she "changed the subject five times before one sentence had finished" on her show.^[26] For her performance as Dory, DeGeneres won the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for "Best Supporting Actress"; "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie" from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards; and the Annie Award from the International Animated Film Association for "Outstanding Voice Acting". She was also nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in the "Best Supporting Actress" category. She also provided the voice of the dog in the prologue of the Eddie Murphy feature film Dr. Dolittle. Her win of the Saturn Award marked the first and only time the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has given the acting award for a voice performance.

Commercial spokeswoman[link]

In November 2004, DeGeneres appeared, dancing, in an ad campaign for American Express. Her most recent American Express commercial, a two-minute black-and-white spot in which she works with animals, debuted in November 2006 and was created by Ogilvy and Mather. In 2007, the commercial won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.

DeGeneres began working with Cover Girl Cosmetics in September 2008, for which she has been criticized, as her animal-friendly values clash with Procter and Gamble's (the maker of Cover Girl Cosmetics) animal testing.^[27] Her face is the focus of new Cover Girl advertisements starting in January 2009. The beauty campaign will be DeGeneres's first.^[28]

On December 3, 2011, DeGeneres headlined the third annual “Change Begins Within� gala for the David Lynch Foundation held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.^[29][30]

In Spring 2012, DeGeneres becomes the spokesperson for J.C. Penney in a tour and advertising campaign.^[5]

Eleveneleven[link]

On May 26, 2010, Ellen announced on her show that she was starting her own record label entitled "eleveneleven". Ellen explained her choice of name, claiming that she often sees the number 11:11 when looking at her clocks, that she found Greyson on the 11th, and that the singer's soccer jersey has the number 11.^[31] She mentioned that she had been looking for videos of performances on YouTube to start her label. The acts thus far signed to the label are Greyson Chance, Tom Andrews, and Jessica Simpson.^[32]

Personal life[link]

DeGeneres with Anne Heche at the 1997 Emmy Awards.

DeGeneres was in a relationship (1997–2000) with actress Anne Heche.^[33] From 2001 to 2004, DeGeneres and actress/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison were in a relationship. They appeared on the cover of The Advocate after their separation had already been announced to the media.^[34]

Since 2004, DeGeneres has had a relationship with Portia de Rossi. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres announced on a May 2008 show that she and de Rossi were engaged,^[35][36] and gave de Rossi a three-carat pink diamond ring.^[37] They were married on August 16, 2008, at their home, with nineteen guests including their mothers.^[37] The passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage, but a subsequent California Supreme Court judgment validated it because it occurred before November 4, 2008.^[38][39]

DeGeneres and de Rossi live in Beverly Hills, with three dogs and four cats,^[40] and both are vegan.^[41] DeGeneres served as campaign ambassador to Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project in 2010, asking people to start "a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one" at Thanksgiving.^[42]

On August 6, 2010, de Rossi filed a petition to legally change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres^[43] The petition was granted on September 23, 2010.^[44]

In her book Love, Ellen, DeGeneres's mother Betty DeGeneres describes being initially shocked when her daughter came out as a lesbian, but has become one of her strongest supporters, an active member of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project.

In 2007, Forbes estimated DeGeneres's net worth at US$65 million.^[45]

She is a fan of the National Football League, and has shown particular support for the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers.^[46] In 2011, she attended a Saints practice dressed as Packers Hall of Famer Don Hutson.^[47]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

Awards and honors[link]

Daytime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Talk Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011
• Outstanding Talk Show Host, The Ellen DeGeneres Show – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• Outstanding Special Class Writing, The Ellen DeGeneres Show – 2005, 2006, 2007

Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, Ellen: "The Puppy Episode" – 1997

Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

• 2012 ^[48]

People's Choice Awards

• Favorite Funny Female Star – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• Favorite Talk Show Host – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
• Favorite Yes I Chose This Star – 2008

Kids' Choice Awards

• Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie – 2004

Tulane University President's Medal

• 2009^[49]

Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards

• 2000 Lucy Award, actor, If These Walls Could Talk 2, in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.^[50]

Bibliography[link]

• DeGeneres, Ellen (1995). My Point...And I Do Have One. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-09955-8. 
• DeGeneres, Ellen (2003). The Funny Thing Is.... New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-4761-2. 
• DeGeneres, Ellen (2011). Seriously...I'm Kidding. New York: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-58502-5. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ellen DeGeneres

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ellen DeGeneres

Wikinews has related news: Portia de Rossi talks about Ellen DeGeneres, sexuality Award show producers try Emmy Idol

• The Ellen DeGeneres Show's official website
• Ellen DeGeneres at the Internet Movie Database
• Ellen DeGeneres at People.com

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife by Jan van Eyck.

Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini (c. 1400 – after 1452) was a merchant from Lucca, a city in Tuscany, Italy, who spent most of his life in Flanders, then part of the Duchy of Burgundy, probably always based in Bruges, a wealthy trading city and one of the main homes of the Burgundian court.

Giovanni, called here di Nicolao or "son of Nicolao" to distinguish him from his cousin Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini (see below), moved to Bruges in Flanders at an early age to work in the family business and lived there for the rest of his life. He became wealthy trading in silk and other fabrics, tapestries and other precious objects, although in later years he seems to have suffered business reverses, and to have retired from trading. His fame arises because he is the most likely candidate, out of a number of male Arnolfinis, to have been the subject of two portraits by Jan van Eyck, the famous Flemish painter. These are: The Arnolfini Portrait of Giovanni and his wife, dated 1434 and now in London, and another portrait, evidently of the same sitter when slightly older, now in Berlin (below).

He was presumably born in Lucca, where his parents lived, but neither the place nor the date are documented. He was sent to Bruges whilst still technically a child, as the first record of him is a letter from his father Nicolao in Lucca to his agent in Bruges in 1419 empowering the agent to "emancipate" Giovanni - that is, to declare him adult. Since there was no fixed age for this, it gives no real clue as to his date of birth.

The Arnolfini were a powerful family in Lucca, involved in the politics and trade of the small but wealthy city, which specialised (like Florence) in weaving expensive cloth. A slightly younger first cousin of Giovanni, called Giovanni de Arrigo Arnolfini, (or "Jehan Arnoulphin le jeune" by the Burgundian accountants) also came to live in Bruges and was even more successful than Giovanni de Nicolao.

Giovanni de Arrigo Arnolfini married, and was survived by, Giovanna (Jeanne) Cenami, and they were the couple thought to be the shown in the Arnolfini Portrait' from 1861 until 1994, when a French naval historian, Jacques Paviot, discovered in the Ducal accounts that the Duke had in 1447 presented two silver pots to "Jehan Arnoulphin" on his marriage - by this time Van Eyck had been dead for six years. Jane or Jeanne Arnolfini is documented further until her death in Bruges in 1480. A further two Arnolfinis, each a younger brother of one of the two Giovannis, are possible candidates as the subject of the Van Eyck portraits, as they lived in, or passed through, Bruges; but neither was apparently there in 1434.

The, probably later, Berlin portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini, wearing a chaperon, by Jan van Eyck.

In the next few years Giovanni di Nicolao worked with a very successful Italian merchant, Marco Guidiccioni, another Lucchese who was connected to him by marriage. Records of some of his dealings with the Ducal court have survived, but these were probably only part of his business activities. In 1422 he tried to sell a valuable gold collar to King Henry V of England, and 1423 he sold Duke Phillip the Good six tapestries of scenes from the life of the Virgin, which the Duke gave to the Pope. Other sales to the Court are recorded, although he may have been acting on behalf of Guidiccioni.

In 1426 he married Costanza Trenta, who is at first sight not the wife in the portrait, as a letter by her mother of February 26, 1433 mentions that she had died. She was also from Lucca, and her aunt Ginevra Cavalcanti was married to Lorenzo de' Medici, brother of Cosimo de' Medici. On the other hand, Margaret Koster has recently proposed that the double portrait may be a memorial one, including an image of Costanza, but painted a year after her death.

In 1442 he signed an agreement whereby, for a moderate fee, he became a burgess of Bruges after promising not to trade as a merchant. He was permitted to practise "the small burgess's crafts", but whether he ever did is unknown. In 1446 and 1452 he is documented as an arbitrator in disputes between other Lucchese merchants (in 1446 including his cousin Giovanni) over property; these are his last appearances in the documentary record. The double portrait remained in Flanders (see the Provenance section in that article), which suggests that Giovanni died there.

There is no documentary evidence of a further marriage, but one has been assumed by art historians; it is not at all implausible that such a marriage would be undocumented. The appearance of the woman in the double portrait perhaps suggests she was Flemish, rather than Italian.

Sources[link]

• Campbell, Lorne (1998). The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings. National Gallery Catalogues. ISBN 1-85709-171-X. 
• Koster, Margaret L., "The Arnolfini double portrait: a simple solution", Apollo, volume 158, issue 499, pages 3–14, September 2003

Further reading[link]

• Paviot, Jacques, "La double portrait Arnolfini de Jan van Eyck", Revue Belge d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'art, volume 66, pages 19–33, 1997 (In French)

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Jonkheer Jacob van Eyck (ca. 1590 – 26 March 1657) was a Dutch nobleman and musician. He was one of the best-known musicians in The Netherlands in the seventeenth century as a carillon player, expert in bell casting and tuning, organist, recorder virtuoso, and composer.

Van Eyck was born blind into a noble family in the small town of Heusden. In 1625 he left home and became carillon player of the Dom Tower of Utrecht, in 1628 he became the Director of the Carillons of Utrecht. René Descartes, Isaac Beeckman and other scientists praised his knowledge of acoustics, bell casting and tuning and bell players came to Utrecht to study with him. He died in Utrecht.

Jacob van Eyck composed the Der Fluyten Lust-hof (The Flute's Garden of Delights, or The Flute's Pleasure Garden). Editions of this work appeared in 1644, 1646, 1649, 1654, and 1656. Der Fluyten Lust-hof is a very extensive collection of about 140 melodies, each with a number of diminutions or variations, for solo soprano recorder. The themes include folk songs, dance tunes, church works, Psalms, and songs of the day. Some of the variations are considered challenging even for an experienced recorder player. Der Fluyten Lust-hof remains the largest work for a solo wind instrument in European history; it is also the only work of this magnitude to have been dictated rather than written down by the composer.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Internet site devoted to Jacob van Eyck and Der Fluyten Lust-hof
• Music by Jacob Van Eyck
• Free scores by Jacob van Eyck at the International Music Score Library Project

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