Mysteries of the Mystic Lamb

Mysteries of the Mystic Lamb

The Ghent Altarpiece or the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, completed in 1432, is a very large and complex polyptych panel painting in the Joost Vijd chapel at Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. Hubert Van Eyck started and his brother, the famous "Flemish Primitive" Jan Van Eyck, finished the work.

The Mystic Lamb consists of 24 scenes, making up two views (open and closed) which are changed by moving the hinged outer wings. The upper register of the opened view shows Christ "the King" between the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The lower register shows the adoration of the Lamb of God, with several groups in attendance and streaming in to worship.

Art historians consider the Mystic Lamb as one of the most influential oil paintings in Christendom. The Mystic Lamb highlights what made Jan Van Eyck famous: the beautiful light, the intricate details and composition.

The lower left panel known as The Just Judges was stolen in 1934. The original panel has never been found and has been replaced by a copy. This is one of the many mysteries surrounding the Mystic Lamb and Belgium's greatest unsolved mystery, with countless amateur and professional sleuths still tracking clues.

A possible hypothesis is called The Nazi Plot Theory. It's a hypothesis involving the Knights Templar and the Quest for the Holy Grail. Indeed, the Mystic Lamb should be read as a code and maybe some of the panels are incorporating documents or a map, leading to the Holy Blood that was brought by the Templars to that other important Flemish city: Bruges, the Venice of the Nord. And since Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln (The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail) or Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) the whole world knows that the Holy Blood should be regarded as the bloodline of Jesus Christ, who didn't die at Golgotha...

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