VOCAB Assignment: Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434

pentimento: A pentimento (plural pentimenti) is an alteration in a painting, evidenced by traces of previous work, showing that the artist has changed his mind as to the composition during the process of painting. The word derives from the Italian pentirsi, meaning to repent.  

Among other changes, his face was higher by about the height of his eye, hers was higher, and her eyes looked more to the front. Each of his feet was under drawn in one position, painted in another, and then overpainted in a third. These alterations are seen in infra-red reflectograms.