It Is Not True that The National Gallery in London will remove Jan van Eyck’s Painting

The National Gallery confirmed for Reuters that the painting by the artist Jan van Eyck is currently on display and there are no plans to remove it, nor have any complaints been made lodged up to date. This painting was exhibited for the first time in the distant year of 1843, exactly in the National Gallery in London

We fact-checked a post published on the social media Facebook saying:

BELIEVE IT OR NOT
A London art gallery wants to remove a painting by Jan van Eyck following frequent complaints by visitors about the resemblance of the figure in the picture with Putin.
By the way, the painting was created in 1434.

Contrary to the post we are fact-checking, the National Gallery in London has no intention of removing Jan van Eyck’s painting “Arnolfini Portrait ” (Of the Arnolfini married couple) because the man in the painting (Giovanni Arnolfini) allegedly resembled the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. That is what the gallery’s public relations officer told Reuters’ fact-checkers.

He stated for Reuters that the painting is on display in Room 28 and there are no plans were made to take it down.

Official announcements from the Gallery about taking down the portrait were not made, nor are there any press releases about alleged requests for removing it.

There have been no complaints that we are aware of, stated the spokesperson for Reuters.

This painting was first exhibited in the distant year of 1843 in the National Gallery in London.

Due to all of the above-noted facts, we assess the fact-checked post as untrue. The National Gallery confirmed for Reuters that Jan van Eyck’s painting was currently on display, no plans have been made to remove it, nor have any complaints been lodged. This post is just spreading disinformation.

This article was developed within the framework of the project Promoting Access to Reliable News to Counter Disinformation, implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation. The article, that has been published on the Macedonian-language version of Truthmeter, was enabled with the support of the American non-profit foundation NED (National Endowment for Democracy). The contents of the article is the responsibility of the author and do not always reflect the positions of Metamorphosis Foundation, NED or their partners.

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