the ghent altarpiece which represents the divine was threatened by outbreaks of iconoclasm.
the ghent altarpiece which represents the divine was threatened by outbreaks of iconoclasm.
the ghent altarpiece which represents the divine was threatened by?
outbreaks of iconoclasm
the panels were threatened during outbreaks of iconoclasm, and have suffered fire damage. during different wars, some panels were sold and others looted. a number were captured by the german occupying forces during world war i, but were later returned to st. bavo's cathedral. in 1934 two panels, the just judges and saint john the baptist, were stolen. the "saint john the baptist" panel was returned soon after, but "the just judges" panel has never been recovered. albert camus in the fall imagines it is kept by the protagonist, clamence, in his amsterdam apartment. in 1945, the altarpiece was returned from germany after spending much of world war ii hidden in a salt mine, which greatly damaged the paint and varnish. the story of the recovery of the altarpiece, and many other great works, was at the heart of the 2014 film "the monuments men".
ghent altarpiece
ghent altarpiece









































the ghent altarpiece (or the adoration of the mystic lamb, ) is a very large and complex 15th-century polyptych altarpiece in st bavo's cathedral, ghent, belgium. it was begun c. the mid-1420s and completed before 1432, and is attributed to the early netherlandish painters and brothers hubert and jan van eyck. the altarpiece is considered a masterpiece of european art and one of the world's treasures.
ghent altarpiece