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Monuments Men sought to return the most desired object in history
This photo provided by The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art of Dallas, shows Monuments Man George Stout, third from left with an "N" on his shirt, moving the central panel of the Ghent Altarpiece in Altaussee, Austria in July of 1945. From a fairy tale inspiring castle in the Bavarian Alps to a serene sculpture of Mary and Jesus by Michelangelo tucked away in a church in Belgium, sites and works of art across Europe can give travelers a glimpse at the heroic work done by those who worked to save cultural treasures during World War II. (AP Photo/National Archives and Records Administration) less
This photo provided by The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art of Dallas, shows Monuments Man George Stout, third from left with an "N" on his shirt, moving the central panel of the Ghent . more
As he stood, a silhouette draped in jewel like colors from the slide projection of the Ghent Altarpiece, he said that 's masterpiece claimed three superlatives. It was imitation clover necklace van cleef the most influential painting ever made, the most frequently stolen artwork in the world, and the most desired object in history. This sounded like a suspicious overstatement.
But he proceeded to ask the class what other verifiably real object had been sought, bought, stolen, chased and hunted more often than the 13 different crimes in which this one enormous, fabulously beautiful Renaissance triptych had been involved? He knew of no artwork that had been bought legitimately more often than the Ghent Altarpiece had been stolen.
I remember shuffling through images in my mind of long desired objects: the , the Ark of the Covenant, the Fountain of Youth. But those were all items of myth, perhaps as much metaphor as material. They may or may not have ever existed, and we certainly can't visit them today. Unlike replica van cleef alhambra diamond necklace these, the Ghent Altarpiece is at last back in the cathedral for which it was painted, St. Bavo in Ghent, after 600 years of nearly constant movement, through the hands of renegade vicars, criminal art dealers, crooked collectors, heroic priests, humanist forgers, Nazi art detectives, Austrian double agents, as well as some of history's most famous figures, including Napoleon, Goering and Hitler.
And, of course, it was rescued by the Monuments Men. Perhaps it was the most desired object of all time, after all?
When actor director and his team of Monuments Men troop through national cinemas this week, attention will be drawn to the core treasure sought and recovered in the "Monuments Men" film: Jan van Eyck's "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb," colloquially referred to as the Ghent Altarpiece.
Arguably the most important painting in the history of art, the Ghent Altarpiece is certainly the most frequently stolen. An enormous polyptych the size of a barn wall (14.5 by 11.5 feet), and weighing well over a ton, it was made for a church in the city of Ghent, Belgium. It was begun by and finished by his younger, and more famous, brother, Jan. Painted between 1426 and 1432, it was the first major oil painting in history, and it inspired centuries of artists to take up oil as their preferred medium. It is also considered the fulcrum between the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the origin of artistic realism.
In any art history text, the Ghent Altarpiece may be found among the most influential works in the history and development of both painting and art collecting. But in addition to its importance to art, it is also the most wanted object in the history of art crime, having been involved in 13 crimes during its 600 year life span. It was stolen at least six times (seven, depending on your definition of theft). With apologies to the "Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn" the so called "Takeaway Rembrandt," which the Guinness Book of World Records incorrectly lists as the most stolen artwork in history the Ghent Altarpiece bests it by several thefts.
While writing a book about the Ghent Altarpiece (published in 2010), I found myself wondering whether any other object in history had been as desired, for as long a period of time, as this one polyptych?
As dramatized in "The Monuments Men," (which of course tells only a sliver of the whole story, and one seriously altered and simplified to meet Hollywood screenplay criteria), Jan van Eyck's masterpiece was the coveted trophy of both Hitler and Goering. Its fame, importance to the evolution of art, and its beauty aside, the work symbolized for them the ideal of Aryan supremacy. They idolized the artist who created it as an exemplary figure in Teutonic history. They were also aware of its background as a frequently stolen artwork.
After having been sold off by a renegade vicar to an unscrupulous art dealer, smuggled to Germany, bought by a British collector, and finally sold to the king of Prussia, some of its panels ended up on display in Berlin before World War I. One of the articles of the agreement that ended the World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, insisted on the return of the panels to Ghent a clause that outraged the German people, who had not looted the panels on display at the Berlin Gemaldegalerie. If Hitler could knock off van cleef arpels necklace recapture it, then he would right a perceived wrong against Germany one of his many attempts to literally and symbolically overturn the Treaty of Versailles.
This was just the climax of several centuries of previous adventures. This one painting has endured so many twists and turns that it has been intact and in St. for a good deal less time than it has been absconded with, wholly or in part.
It is no wonder that such an influential, famous and beautiful work of art should be desired, by both individuals and nations. And the yearning to possess is cyclical and cumulative when one prominent person desires an object, others follow. Since its completion in 1432, the Ghent Altarpiece has been the icon of the local populace in Flanders, which for centuries has been the battleground of Europe. Though the dominion of Ghent changed over the centuries, the altarpiece was a precious constant. The locals sought to retain it, while foreign powers saw its capture as a testament to their domination.
With its theft in World War II, and the subsequent Allied hunt to rescue it from destruction at the hands of the Nazis, the ability to save this one painting became a metaphor for the salvation of Art. For all its adventures, the biography of the Ghent Altarpiece, an inanimate object, reads as far more dramatic than the life of any human being. Perhaps it is, as my old professor suggested, the most desired real object in history.
This photo provided by The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art of Dallas, shows Monuments Man George Stout, third from left with an "N" on his shirt, moving the central panel of the Ghent Altarpiece in Altaussee, Austria in July of 1945. From a fairy tale inspiring castle in the Bavarian Alps to a serene sculpture of Mary and Jesus by Michelangelo tucked away in a church in Belgium, sites and works of art across Europe can give travelers a glimpse at the heroic work done by those who worked to save cultural treasures during World War II. (AP Photo/National Archives and Records Administration) less
This photo provided by The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art of Dallas, shows Monuments Man George Stout, third from left with an "N" on his shirt, moving the central panel of the Ghent . more
As he stood, a silhouette draped in jewel like colors from the slide projection of the Ghent Altarpiece, he said that 's masterpiece claimed three superlatives. It was imitation clover necklace van cleef the most influential painting ever made, the most frequently stolen artwork in the world, and the most desired object in history. This sounded like a suspicious overstatement.
But he proceeded to ask the class what other verifiably real object had been sought, bought, stolen, chased and hunted more often than the 13 different crimes in which this one enormous, fabulously beautiful Renaissance triptych had been involved? He knew of no artwork that had been bought legitimately more often than the Ghent Altarpiece had been stolen.
I remember shuffling through images in my mind of long desired objects: the , the Ark of the Covenant, the Fountain of Youth. But those were all items of myth, perhaps as much metaphor as material. They may or may not have ever existed, and we certainly can't visit them today. Unlike replica van cleef alhambra diamond necklace these, the Ghent Altarpiece is at last back in the cathedral for which it was painted, St. Bavo in Ghent, after 600 years of nearly constant movement, through the hands of renegade vicars, criminal art dealers, crooked collectors, heroic priests, humanist forgers, Nazi art detectives, Austrian double agents, as well as some of history's most famous figures, including Napoleon, Goering and Hitler.
And, of course, it was rescued by the Monuments Men. Perhaps it was the most desired object of all time, after all?
When actor director and his team of Monuments Men troop through national cinemas this week, attention will be drawn to the core treasure sought and recovered in the "Monuments Men" film: Jan van Eyck's "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb," colloquially referred to as the Ghent Altarpiece.
Arguably the most important painting in the history of art, the Ghent Altarpiece is certainly the most frequently stolen. An enormous polyptych the size of a barn wall (14.5 by 11.5 feet), and weighing well over a ton, it was made for a church in the city of Ghent, Belgium. It was begun by and finished by his younger, and more famous, brother, Jan. Painted between 1426 and 1432, it was the first major oil painting in history, and it inspired centuries of artists to take up oil as their preferred medium. It is also considered the fulcrum between the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the origin of artistic realism.
In any art history text, the Ghent Altarpiece may be found among the most influential works in the history and development of both painting and art collecting. But in addition to its importance to art, it is also the most wanted object in the history of art crime, having been involved in 13 crimes during its 600 year life span. It was stolen at least six times (seven, depending on your definition of theft). With apologies to the "Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn" the so called "Takeaway Rembrandt," which the Guinness Book of World Records incorrectly lists as the most stolen artwork in history the Ghent Altarpiece bests it by several thefts.
While writing a book about the Ghent Altarpiece (published in 2010), I found myself wondering whether any other object in history had been as desired, for as long a period of time, as this one polyptych?
As dramatized in "The Monuments Men," (which of course tells only a sliver of the whole story, and one seriously altered and simplified to meet Hollywood screenplay criteria), Jan van Eyck's masterpiece was the coveted trophy of both Hitler and Goering. Its fame, importance to the evolution of art, and its beauty aside, the work symbolized for them the ideal of Aryan supremacy. They idolized the artist who created it as an exemplary figure in Teutonic history. They were also aware of its background as a frequently stolen artwork.
After having been sold off by a renegade vicar to an unscrupulous art dealer, smuggled to Germany, bought by a British collector, and finally sold to the king of Prussia, some of its panels ended up on display in Berlin before World War I. One of the articles of the agreement that ended the World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, insisted on the return of the panels to Ghent a clause that outraged the German people, who had not looted the panels on display at the Berlin Gemaldegalerie. If Hitler could knock off van cleef arpels necklace recapture it, then he would right a perceived wrong against Germany one of his many attempts to literally and symbolically overturn the Treaty of Versailles.
This was just the climax of several centuries of previous adventures. This one painting has endured so many twists and turns that it has been intact and in St. for a good deal less time than it has been absconded with, wholly or in part.
It is no wonder that such an influential, famous and beautiful work of art should be desired, by both individuals and nations. And the yearning to possess is cyclical and cumulative when one prominent person desires an object, others follow. Since its completion in 1432, the Ghent Altarpiece has been the icon of the local populace in Flanders, which for centuries has been the battleground of Europe. Though the dominion of Ghent changed over the centuries, the altarpiece was a precious constant. The locals sought to retain it, while foreign powers saw its capture as a testament to their domination.
With its theft in World War II, and the subsequent Allied hunt to rescue it from destruction at the hands of the Nazis, the ability to save this one painting became a metaphor for the salvation of Art. For all its adventures, the biography of the Ghent Altarpiece, an inanimate object, reads as far more dramatic than the life of any human being. Perhaps it is, as my old professor suggested, the most desired real object in history.
The Wall