A team from KIK-IRPA, led by Hélène Dubois, is restoring Van Eyck’s magnificent polyptych, The Mystic Lamb.

The progress of the restoration, reports and studies on various aspects of this iconic painting are detailed on the Closer to van Eyck website https://lnkd.in/dFVGfK9f, which features high-quality, high-resolution images.

This polyptych is a notable pictorial reference point. Begun by Hubert van Eyck, it was completed by his brother Jan in 1432, commissioned by the Vijd couple for their private chapel in Ghent Cathedral.

It is a milestone in art history for several reasons. Firstly, for its pictorial quality and its innovative use of oil paint, which until then had not been used in works of such large dimensions (340 x 440 cm) or with such mastery, as the interplay of transparencies, glazes and textures displayed in these paintings is difficult to match.

Secondly, because of its intricate symbolism and iconography, which depicts everything from the original sin to the sacrifice of the Lamb in a single altarpiece, telling the whole story of the salvation of the soul, with complex inscriptions and highly elaborate scenes, the interpretation of which has provoked numerous debates and studies.

And thirdly, because of its complex material history, holding the dubious record of being the most frequently intervened, attacked, threatened and stolen painting in history, including organised thefts by Napoleon and Hitler. Its rescue, along with other European works of art, from a salt mine in Austria by art recovery brigades after the Second World War, has been the subject of a recent film.