What is the value of the Ghent Altarpiece?

Now Belgium’s most famous painting, The Ghent Altarpiece, is being restored at a cost of more than 1m euros (£800,000; $1.3m).

What is the most stolen piece of art in history?

the Ghent Altarpiece
Throughout six centuries, the Ghent Altarpiece, also called “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb,” has been burned, forged, and raided in three different wars. It is, in fact, the world’s most stolen artwork— and is considered one of the most influential paintings ever made.

What story does the Ghent Altarpiece tell?

The panels display a variety of detailed scenes, but the center of the altarpiece depicts Jesus Christ, the Virgin, and Saint John the Baptist, and, below them, a host of saints assembled around the mystic lamb.

What were altarpieces used for?

altarpiece, work of art that decorates the space above and behind the altar in a Christian church. Painting, relief, and sculpture in the round have all been used in altarpieces, either alone or in combination. These artworks usually depict holy personages, saints, and biblical subjects.

What is the subject matter of the Ghent Altarpiece?

The subject matter of the verso panels, visible when the altarpiece is closed, is the Annunciation: The angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will bear the Son of God. Portraits of the donors who paid for the altarpiece, and their patron saints, also grace the back.

What is an altarpiece in art?

Did the Mona Lisa get stolen?

On 21st August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Salon Carré in the Louvre. The theft was discovered the following day when a painter wandered into the Louvre to admire the Mona Lisa, and instead discovered four metal pegs! He promptly alerted security, who in turn alerted the media.

Was the Ghent Altarpiece stolen?

During its 588-year history, the Ghent Altarpiece has been nearly burned by rioting Calvinists, stolen by Napoleon for the Louvre in Paris, cut in half after falling into the hands of the King of Prussia, coveted by Hermann Göring and taken by Adolf Hitler before being rescued by a team of commando double-agents from …

What is a triptych altarpiece?

A Triptych was a popular format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards (c. 1000 CE). Consisting of a central panel and two hinged “wings”, triptychs were installed in Eastern Orthodox as well as Western Christian churches.

What does the word altarpiece mean?

Definition of altarpiece : a work of art that decorates the space above and behind an altar.

What media is used in the Ghent Altarpiece?

Oil paint
TemperaWood
Ghent Altarpiece/Media

What is the purpose of a predella?

A predella is the platform or step on which an altar stands (*predel or *pretel, Langobardic for “a low wooden platform that serves as a basis in a piece of furniture”). In painting, the predella is the painting or sculpture along the frame at the bottom of a polyptych or multipanel altarpiece.