Lust for Art

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, or Ghent Altarpiece
by Jan and Hubert van Eyck

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, or Ghent Altarpiece, holds the title for being the subject of the most crimes of any artwork in history. In its nearly 600-year existence, it has been stolen repeatedly and nearly destroyed by fires more than once. The 12-paneled altarpiece was created by Jan van Eyck with help from his brother, Hubert, and revealed to the public for the first time in 1432. It weighed almost two tons and measured approximately 14.5 feet by 11.5 feet. It was unlike any artwork ever seen with brilliant color and great artistic detail portraying biblical events and figures, from Adam and Eve, the Archangel Gabriel, the Annunciation, to the symbolic sacrifice of Christ (the sacred lamb). It became the object of pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Saint Bavo in the city of Ghent, Belgium. It is considered, to this day, one of the most impor…