Probably his Portrait of Margaret van Eyck was a pendant, although her only known portrait is both dated 1439 and larger. It has been proposed that van Eyck created the portrait to store in his workshop so that he could use it display his abilities (and social status, given the fine clothes evident in the portrait) to potential clients. However his reputation was such in 1433 that he was already highly sought after for commissioned work.

The man is not, as it is commonly thought, wearing a turban, but a chaperon with the ends that normally hang down tied up over the top, which would be a sensible precaution if it was worn whilst painting.

Like all van Eyck's portraits, it shows a sharp and detailed analysis of the physical lines. The painting is in third life size, with the sitter sitting in three quarters profile. His stubbled face is heavily lined with the onset of middle-age, and his eyes are bloodshot but look outwards with a piercing gaze. His weary facial expression is achieved through a combination of his strong nose, tightly pursed by wide mouth and the framing of his face by the headdress. The overall expression is of a man, whom the writer, James Hall described as "see things - himself included - in close-up, but without losing track of the bigger picture."

The subject is often thought to be van Eyck himself, though there is no direct evidence for this. The costume is appropriate for a man of van Eyck's social position, and the motto is his personal one, otherwise only appearing on two surviving religious paintings, two more known only from copies, and the portrait of his wife. In none of these is it as prominent as here, a primary reason, along with the very direct but bloodshot gaze, why the work is usually viewed as a self-portrait. Some art historians view the work as a form of calling card for prospective clients, where van Eyck may be saying "look at what I can do with paint, how lifelike I can make my figures".

A similar chaperon is worn by a figure in the background of van Eyck's Rolin Madonna, and it has also been suggested that this is a self-portrait. Depicting the lines and folds of a chaperon would allow an artist to overtly display his skill. More so, the positioning of its long cornette may directly refer to his occupation as a painter - it is rolled up, perhaps to keep it out of way as he freely applies paint. The emphasis on the sitter's sharp and keenly intelligent shot eyes is a further subtle clue, one found again later in Albrecht Dürer 1500 Self-Portrait.

The panel has been in the National Gallery, London, since 1851, having been in England since Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel acquired it, probably during his exile in Antwerp from 1642-44.

According to wikipedia