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| van Eyck, Ghent's Altarpiece, 1432 (open) |
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| Ghent's Altarpiece, Joos Vijd |
In 1426, Joos Vijd commissionned
Jan van Eyck (and also maybe his brother Hubert) this altarpiece to donate it
to Ghent’s Cathedral to make up for his dad’s sins.
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| van Eyck, Ghent's Altarpiece, (closed) |
We don’t have many other
details because the contract was lost. The work is 3,5 x 4,42 m, painted on oak
wood and weights more than 2 tons. It’s formed by 20 panels, on its front and
back. When closed, 8 of them about Annunciation are seen. Open, we see 12 about
the Mystic Lamb, a St. John symbol, mentionned in “Golden Legend”. It’s a
monumental work, full of details, symbols and theological allusions of great
erudition.
It stayed in the Cathedral during
140 years, and soon turned into a prey for political and religious interests.
1566 Ghent was involved in the
religious fights between Catholics and Protestants. A group of calvinists
attempts to break the Cathedral’s doors in order to destroy the altarpiece, but
it was in vain. Two days after they succeed, but the artwork wasn’t there
anymore. It had been hidden in one of the towers. It was kept there until 1548
and it returned to its place when the city becomes Christian again under the
power of the Habsburgs.
1792 The French Republic was in
war with Austria; the Frenchs invade Belgium and take the central panels to
Paris as a war trophy. It was during Napoleon’s epoche that they tried several
exchanges to get the remaining panels. When Louis XVIII flees from France and shelters
in Ghent, he is took in with great hospitality: in 1815, when he returns to
Paris, he gives the altarpiece back as a sign of gratitude.
1816 Since the Bishop wasn’t in
the city, the vicar-general J.J. Le Surre steals 6 of the side panels (those
Adam and Eve panels were kept in storage since they were considered obscene).
Details aren’t known, but it’s clear he wasn’t alone, every panel weights
around 100 kgs. He received a 3600$ (current value) payment from the
Nieuwenhuys, a merchant who tended to use wars’ chaos to do business. He sold
them to E. Solly, an English collectionist. In 1821, the King Frederick William
III of Prussia bought them all and the Altar’s wings were exhibited from 1830
in the Königliche Gallerie of Berlin.
1914 During the World War I, the
panels were spread around. In order to fill the gaps, both in Ghent and Berlin,
they used a copy that was previously commissionned by Phillippe II of Spain in
1559. The Germans already had the side panels: they would get the rest as soon
as they invaded Belgium. The canon van der Gheyn, guard of the Cathedral’s
treasures, decided to hide it with the Bishop’s authorisation, but without him
knowing where. He took it with 4 volunteers to the Episcopal Palace. The
Germans looked for it everywhere, questioning everybody, requisitioning private
houses. In 1918, van der Gheyn decides to move it to the Church of Saint
Stephen, behind a confessional. When war ended, in the Treaty of Versailles it
was demanded to give all the panels that were in Berlin back; though, these
ones were bought legally and not stolen.
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| Ghent's Altarpiece, St. John the Baptist (Wikipedia) |
1934 Saint John, the Baptist and
Righteous Judges’ panels disappear. The robbers left a note pointing out that
it was a revenge for the Treaty of Versailles. Police didn’t act
professionally, like if they were whitewashing somebody. The bishop received
around 13 letters from the theives. The negotiations were carried out through
the Classified Section of the newspaper “La Dernière Heure”. The Government
wouldn’t step back. As to prove that they had them, they give back Saint John’s
panel through a third party in Brussel’s train station.
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| Ghent's Altarpiece, The Righteous Judges (original painting's image, Wikipedia) |
November 1934 Arsène Godetier suffers
a heart attack. He was an entrepreneur, member of several Catholic
organisations. He tended to say he had a lot of debts, but his bank account
revealed he was millionaire. In his last breathe, he asks to talk to his lawyer
alone: he confessed he had stolen it and mentions a cupboard, a key and he
dies. The lawyer finds in the cupboard copies of the letters and a key to the
Cathedral. The panel of the Righteous Judges hasn’t been found yet. It seems,
for the letters, that it’s hidden in some public building or in the Cathedral.
In 1937 case was closed. In the meantime, the documents related to case
disappeared and all those who took part in it die mysteriously. To substitute this
panel, a copy by Van der Vecken was chosen, which wasn’t commissioned and that
has some mysterious verses on its background, in code.
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| van der Veken, The Righteous Judges (Wikipedia) |
However, it doesn’t all finish
here. To be continued next week.
This is a tiny summary
of
Charney, N. Stealing the mystic lamb. New York, Publicaffairs, 2010
If you want more
details, I suggest reading it!
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