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One of the Twitter accounts making the claim refers to an article in The News Dept as the source, which says only that “relevant information surfaced on Wednesday, March 30” without giving any further details. ## Evaluation: False Jan van Eyck’s 1434 painting The Arnolfini Portrait remains on display in room 28 of the National Gallery in London and there are no plans to remove it. The National Gallery is also unaware of any complaints over the painting. ## The facts A National Gallery spokeswoman told the PA news agency: “The painting you refer to is the Portrait of Giovanni(?) Arnolfini and his Wife (The Arnolfini Marriage) by Jan van Eyck (1434) and is currently on display in Room 28. “There are no plans to remove this painting from display. “There have been no complaints that we are aware of.” ![\\"Jan](\\"//content.assets.pressassociation.io/2023/04/20205413/67f08b9f-adba-4e93-8b6a-75ea372e2a0b.jpg\\")Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait (National Gallery/PA) The oil painting on oak, which was bought by the National Gallery in 1842, hangs in its main collection and “must be one of the most famous and intriguing paintings in the world”, according to the “in-depth description” on the gallery’s website. The question mark in the Flemish artist’s painting’s full title reflects the mystery which surrounds the work. As to its subject, whom it is claimed resembles the Russian leader, the gallery adds: “From early on the painting was identified as showing one ‘Hernoul le Fin’ or ‘Arnoult Fin’. The Arnolfini were an extensive family of Italian merchants, with various members in Bruges at this period. “The most likely candidate is Giovanni di Nicolao di Arnolfini, known as Giannino or Jehannin, who would have been in his late thirties in 1434. The lady is probably his second wife, whose identity is unknown.” As to the source of the claim, The News Dept article cites RIA FAN, a site which shows its pro-Russian stance with the use of the letter Z at the top of its homepage. On April 13, the European Council added RIA FAN – part of the Patriot Media Group, a Russian media organisation whose board of trustees is headed by Yevgeniy Prigozhin (who also finances the Russia-based unincorporated private military entity the Wagner Group) – to its sanctions list. A European Council statement said RIA FAN “is involved in pro-government propaganda and disinformation on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”. ## Links Claim on Twitter (archived) Second claim on Twitter (archived) Claim in The News Dept article (archived) Descriptions of The Arnolfini Portrait on the National Gallery’s website (archived text and video – from 54 secs) RIA FAN (archived) European Council statement on RIA FAN (archived) ## About PA’s fact checks If you have any suggestions for future fact checks, objections or comments, please send them to factcheck@pamediagroup.com, including any relevant links. 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The National Gallery is removing a van Eyck painting from 1434 following complaints that its subject resembles Vladimir Putin