The mystical lamb

The mystical Agneau is a Polyptyque of the worship carried out by the brothers van Eyck and completed in 1432. Preserved in the Saint-Bavon Cathedral of Ghent (Belgium), this work marks the birth of the Flemish artistic revolution, and constitutes a true masterpiece of the painting of the Primitifs Flemish .

Ordered by Joost Vijdt, Marguillier of the Midsummer's Day church of Ghent (become since the Saint-Bavon cathedral), the polyptyque one is started with Hubert Van Eyck and is finished by Jan Van Eyck after the death of his/her brother in 1426.

This retable was placed on May 6th, 1432 on the furnace bridge of the vault of the silent partner, in the Midsummer's Day church.

In 1934, two panels of the retable were stolen by a sexton of the church. One of them was restored by the robber, but he died before saying or was the second, that of the " just Judges ". It found forever, but a faithful copy, carried out by Jef Vanderveken, which replaces it is visible today; it is the first panel, bellow, on the left, when the polyptyque one is in open position.

This table consists of ten wood panels of oak and has an iconographic program complexes, resting for a great part on the text of the Apocalypse according to holy Jean the Evangelist. It deals with two distinct biblical subjects, according to whether the retable is opened or closed.

Work analyzes

The blooming of Flemish painting begins according to several historians from art with this masterpiece. To appreciate it fully, it is advisable to contemplate it in a vault of the church Saint Bavon, in Ghent.

The scholars lengthily sought to interpret this work. They sought there in particular the interpretation of the texts extracted the book of the Apocalypse, of the legend of the Saints, the Romain Breviary, the religious literature of the time. The examination of these theses, of which none makes it possible to conclude that the simplest explanations.

In the panels of this work, one distinguishes the trees from the Scandinavian areas of those of the southernmost countries. The admiror of work can have fun to contemplate tiny characters who walk on a road curving through rocks and meadows, to identify the gasolines of these trees composing this decorations to identify the detail of their foliage, to examine the meticulous precision of the buildings, the houses, the huts.

On the shutter of the Judges Intègres of this work, the artist gives consistency to the tufts of the foliage and indicates their place in the landscape. It is as if the painter gave us desire for palpating glance the objects, to evaluate their volume, to become aware of their weight, like theirs appearance.

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