 He feels this might explain oddities in the painting, for example why the couple are standing in typical winter clothing while a cherry tree is in fruit outside, and why the phrase ""Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434"" is featured so large in the centre of the painting.Herman Colenbrander has proposed that the painting may depict an old German custom of a husband promising a gift to his bride on the morning after their wedding night.He has also suggested that the painting may have been a present from the artist to his friend.