A fascinating article by Patrick Bernau on the Socyberty website about artwork in a Belgian cathedral by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, known as the Ghent Alterpiece, or The Mystic Lamb.
It seems that two panels of the composition (called a polyptych) were stolen in 1934 (known as "The Just Judges" and "St. John the Baptist"), and have never been found. Bernau asks why would a Flemish cathedral painting from the 1400s feature a Knight Templar, a century after their dissolution?
And why did someone steal the panel?
And how did the Nazis get involved?
Bernau has written a book on the painting, Mysteries of the Mystic Lamb, so far only available in Dutch.
Read on...
