The miraculous story of the Ghent Altarpiece

The stunningly beautiful Ghent Altarpiece is the most stolen major work of art in history, yet somehow it survives
(Photo: Public Domain)

GHENT, BELGIUM — In the 2014 film The Monuments Men, George Clooney claims the Ghent Altarpiece is the most important work of art in the Western tradition.

Clooney's passion for the recovery of stolen art masterpieces by the Germans during World War II may have been exaggerated but his point is well taken.

The Altarpiece story
unfolds through panels
*Photo: Public Domain)

While the Ghent Altarpiece may not rank number one, it is certainly among the most important recoveries and its story is nothing short of miraculous. In that sense, it may have been the greatest artistic rescue mission in history.

Displayed today in the Cathedral of St. Bavo's in Ghent, Belgium, the fifteenth-century collaborative masterpiece of the brothers van Eyck, Jan and Hubert, comes, as one writer put it "close in spirit to the 1970s theatrical...rock opera...Jesus Christ Superstar."

The story begins in 1426, when the mayor of Ghent Jodocus Vijd and his wife Lybette commissioned the work as part of a larger project for the St Bavo's Cathedral chapel.

Man in Turban -- Jan van
Eyck self-portrait
(Photo: Public Domain)

In general, most art historians agree the overall design of the altarpiece was created by Hubert in the mid-1420s, while most of the panel paintings were completed by younger brother Jan between 1430 and 1432.

Hubert died in 1426 however, leaving some debate as to how much he was able to contribute to the project.

Further adding to the mystery, is a now lost Latin inscription  written by Hubert van Eyck on one of the frames. The phrase maior quo nemo repertus (greater than anyone) states that Hubert started the altarpiece, but that Jan -- labeled himself arte secundus (second best in the art) -- completed it in 1432.

Lt. Daniel J. Kern and German conservator Karl Sieber examining Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece (Photo: Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)

The design is organized in two vertical registers with each containing double sets of fold-out wings featuring inner and outer panels. In a sense, the altarpiece represents an artistic storybook depiction of the Bible.

Other than the art itself, the remarkable history of the

altarpiece is that though it is the most stolen painting in the world, it survives nearly intact today

.

Throughout the decades, the 12 panels have been threatened by destruction from heretics and suffered damage by fire. 

During various wars over the centuries, some of the panels were sold while others were stolen. Additionally, many of the frames were captured by German forces during World War I, yet somehow managed to find their way back to St. Bavo's Cathedral.

The Three Marys bt Hubert van
Eyck  (Photo: Public Domain)

In 1934 two panels, The Just Judges and Saint John the Baptist, were stolen. In an extortion effort, Saint John the Baptist was returned provided a large ransom would be paid for the other painting.

To this day,  The Just Judges panel has never been recovered and remains the only missing frame in the display. Situated in the lower left hand corner of the altarpiece as you face it, a reproduction currently takes its place.

Neuschwanstein was one of
the first storage places
(Photo: Taylor)

In 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered the painting to be seized and brought to Germany to be hidden in King Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. When Allied air raids made the castle too dangerous for the painting, it was moved to a salt mine in the region where corrosive elements took control that greatly damaged the paint and vanish.

Given the number of times the altarpiece has been disassembled over the centuries, there remains a certain amount of conjecture as to whether the current display of  panels has been reconfigured in their original positions.

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb is the focal point if the
Ghent Altarpiece  (Photo: Public Domain)

If nothing else, the Ghent Altarpiece, is revelatory which, in a way, is a visual biblical pun of divine "revelation." When closed, its message is compact and easier to delineate, yet when opened it becomes, as one expert observer put it, "a visual moveable feast."

In its opened format, the work is a biblical travelogue of the prophets on foot, princes on horseback, saints, martyrs and angels who are depicted in the dynamically colored focal point of the painting known as the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb.

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb depicts symbolic images of the life of Christ with Jerusalem in the background
(Photo: Public Domain)

It is virtually impossible to discus every element of the central painting of the altarpiece in a mere 1,000 words, much less to analyze the remaining 11 panels.

Suffice it to say, the key panel, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, depicts a large meadow, dotted with flowers at the center of which are two primary structures; the foreground has a lovely octagonal stone fountain, with a tall central pedestal from which flows multiple cascades of water, while the background, on a direct axis with the fountain, is an altar with a lamb standing on it.

The altarpiece is a
masterpiece of light
(Photo: Public Domain) 

The lamb has a dual meaning. First it represents a symbol of Christ and his death as the sacrificial lamb, but it also marks the equivalence of the crucifixion which is emphasized by the positioning of the lamb with the cross held by an angel.

Two significant aspects of the painting should not be overlooked. First, van Eyck pays as much attention to the beauty of earthly things as religious themes. Clothing and jewelry, the natural surroundings, the churches and landscape in the background are painted with remarkable detail.

Secondly, light and lighting are among the major innovations of the altarpiece. Several panels contain complex light effects and subtle plays of shadow found especially in reflections such as the ripples of water in the Fountain of Life depicted in the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb.

The city of Ghent is home to the altarpiece
(Courtesy: Visit Ghent)

In that regard, the Ghent Altarpiece represents a glorious explosion of light which is also symbolic of Christ as the "light of the world."

It is well known that Jan, who was the far more famous of the two brothers, was an exquisite painter of miniatures while working for the Dukes of Burgundy. Thus. there are many aspects of the work that are consistent with the detail work of such an artist, but there are some important differences too, not the least of which is scale. The relatively large size of the panels pushed Jan to new heights as a virtuoso in mastering the painting of light.

The story of the Ghent Altarpiece is filled with intrigue amid the rich texture of history and art. It is, indeed, a "tale of two brothers" that is a monument to the greatness of man's creativity.