Tracing the history of the Ghent Altarpiece during the Great War

Art in Flanders offers a unique view on Flemish art and heritage collections, but there’s always more. For amateurs, historians and nosey enthusiasts, meemoo – the organization behind Art in Flanders – has different platforms, with different content. One of those platforms is News of the Great War.

On this platform, you can search Flemish newspapers from the Great War period. All text in the newspapers themselves is searchable, which means you can easily trace the war history of people, places … or works of art. During the war, a lot of art was moved, hidden or sent abroad to escape the clutches of the occupying forces. One of those pieces was the beloved Ghent Altarpiece.

Even before 1914, the famous painting by the brothers Van Eyck had an eventful history. The only panels from the polyptych that were still in the cathedral of Ghent were the four central panels, including the famous Adoration of the mystic lamb. The two sidepanels depicting Adam and Eve were located in the Royal Museum for Fine Arts in Brussels.

All of the remaining panels had been sold decades before the war and were at the time in the possession of the king of Prussia in Berlin. No wonder the German occupying forces were actively looking for the four Ghentian panels: their aim was to reunite all of the panels of the Ghent altarpiece in Berlin.

The canon of Ghent at the time, Gabriël Van den Geyn, who was treasurer of the Saint Bavo's Cathedral and president of the historical society of Ghent, was well aware of this threat. He anticipated the Germans’ move and devised a cunning plan. De Gentenaar, a regional newspaper, reports in 1918 how Van den Geyn took away the masterpiece from the cathedral and hid the panels in three different places: Saint James' Church, the Augustinian monastery and another monastery in Ghent (none of which is correct).

When Ghent was captured and the German governor Von der Goltz inquires after the panels, Van den Geyn lies and says the panels have been transported to England. The lie is so convincing that another newspaper, Het Vlaamsche Nieuws, publishes a very critical article deploring this risky action: the English were well-known to keep artworks of this stature for themselves.

The newspaper’s fears remained unfounded, as the Ghent altarpiece remained in Ghent during the war and never fell to the hands of the Germans. When the war finally ended, the Belgians were even able to move the Germans to return the Berlin panels to their home city. Together with the panels depicting Adam and Eve, which were still kept in Brussels, they all returned from exile. At the end of the Great War, the masterpiece was complete again, and in its original location: the cathedral of Ghent.

The joy was short-lived, however, as in 1934 the panels depicting John the Baptist and the Just Judges were stolen in a heist that is still shrouded in mystery. The panel of John the Baptist is recovered, the Just judges are still missing and have become the subject of much speculation and theories.

On the 18th of June 1915, Het Volk reports the remarkable discovery of a small drawing that had been kept under protective glass, depicting the Ghent altarpiece. On this drawing, there is also a predella, or painting along the bottom of the frame of the polyptych.

The local historical society is shocked, as the predella had been lost in the 16^th century, without a trace: no drawings, sketches or descriptions had ever been found. Unfortunately, the drawing that was discovered soon turned out to be a fraud. The latest historical research suggests that the predella was lost during a restauration around 1550.

Want to explore and download the free photographs and historical images of the Ghent Altarpiece on artinflanders.be?

Sources for the images on this page:
 

1. The Ghent Altarpiece: overview of the open Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck en Hubert van Eyck, source : Saint-Bavo’s Cathedral Ghent, photo Hugo Maertens, Dominique Provost
    
2. Detail from a newspaper article: De Gentenaar, 20 november 1918, nieuwsvandegrooteoorlog.be 
    
3. Archival images of history of the Altarpiece of the Mystic Lamb, source : Saint-Bavo’s Cathedral Ghent