Jan van Eyck (/væn ˈaɪk/ van EYEK, Dutch: [ˈjɑn vɑn ˈɛik]; c.  before 1390 – 9 July 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. According to Ernst Gombrich, he invented oil painting. The surviving records indicate that he was born around 1380–1390, most likely in Maaseik (then Maaseyck, hence his name), in present-day Belgium. He took employment in The Hague around 1422 when he was already a master painter with workshop assistants, and was employed as painter and valet de chambre with John III the Pitiless, ruler of Holland and Hainaut. After John's death in 1425, he was later appointed as court painter to Philip the Good, Duk