Ghent Altarpiece By Jan Van Eyck: Christianity Storylines

The Ghent Altarpiece is a polyptych masterpiece drawn by Jan Van Eyck in 1432 as part of an altarpiece in Flanders, Belgium. He created the piece for his master, Philip the Good, whom he worked for, for about a decade.

Van Eyck is famous for his different uses of oil paint and tempera paint. During this process, he combines oil paint with eggs and flaxseed and uses it to make the jewels, clothing, and accessories. shine brighter. While working for Philip, he was sent to do many missions for him; for example, going to neighboring countries and asking women of high-ranking for their hand in marriage to Philip, especially in Spain and Portugal. While creating his many paintings, Van Eyck possibly had some influence from painter Robert Campin; from the technique and use of oil paint and “method of disguised symbolism” that were similar to Campins.

There is much controversy about who actually painted the Ghent Altarpiece: Many say that his brother, Hubert Van Eyck is actually the one who created the painting. There is an inscription dated back to 1432 that reads, “The painter Hubert van Eyck, greater than whom no one was found, began this work; and Jan, his brother, second in art carried through the task”. However, painter Albrecht Durer “praised only Jan van Eyck during his visit to Ghent in 1521”, creating more confusion between art historians on who actually painted the masterpiece.

The time when the Ghent Altarpiece was created, it was the periodic era of the Renaissance, which lasted from the 1300s through the 1600s, which is considered to be the “cultural link” from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It was an age where, artists mainly, improved thinking values, philosophies and ideas, and ultimately, made them their own. When the Ghent Altarpiece is closed, there are 12 panels and 10 of which have people such as prophets, donors, sibyls, along with Mary and Gabriel. The following prophets are placed on the upper panels above Mary and Gabriel’s heads: Prophet Zechariah, Prophet Micah, Erythreanean Sybil, and Cumean Sybil. They are “prophets and sibyls who predicted the [birth] of Christ” and also predicted the birth of Messiah in Bethlehem. Prophet Zechariah, Prophet Micah, Erythreanean Sybil, and Cumean Sybil. Gabriel is alongside Mary explaining to her she is the Virgin Mother of Christ with the sentence “With Mary, Gabriel is holding lilies “a symbol of Mary’s purity, her seamlessness, and her virginity” and a dove above Mary’s head symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Beside Mary there is a silver tray, a silver pitcher, and a towel all representing her purity on this world.

In the bottom middle panels, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist are “painted in grisaille” with two donors kneeling at their sides: Jodocus Vijd and his wife, Elizabeth Borluut. Vijd was a very wealthy man for his time and seemed to be “too fond of it”. Not wanting to commit a sin with his money, he used it for the church by having Jan Van Eyck paint him and his wife’s portraits so everybody knew he donated something to God.

There are twelve panels all consisting of their own story or person in it detailed to behold the viewer with scenes from the Holy Bible. There is Byzantine influence in the Ghent Altarpiece; such as, God being in the middle, Mary on his left, and John the Baptist on his right. The imagery reminds the viewer of “the Deësis (from the Greek, “prayer”)”, the moment of The Last Judgment with those three figures. In the middle panel, God is depicted as an “almost frail, surprisingly young, apparently merciful and kind, and certainly richly adorned”. God is seen wearing a crown with another one set at his feet, symbolizing that he is the king of all kings. Behind God’s head the words: “This is God, all-powerful in his divine majesty; of all the best, by the gentleness of his goodness; the most liberal giver, because of his infinite generosity”.

A symbol of a pelican can be seen behind God’s head, symbolizing God’s deep love and will to sacrifice anything, including himself, for the human race. Pelican’s were believed to pick at their own skin to feed their starving young, sacrificing themselves. In the bottom middle panel, Jesus Christ’s “slaughter for our salvation” where a lamb, with a halo around its head, is bleeding into a chalice. Around the lamb there are different groups of people: The Just Judges, Knights of Christ, Pilgrims, Hermits, along with angels surrounding the lamb carrying the objects used in Christ’s sacrifice. Everyone has come to witness the death of the lamb and everything is carefully depicted with little details drawn out definley, symbolizing God’s divine sight and how he is the only one who can see the world so vividly. The lamb’s blood from the chalice is connected to the flow of water at the bottom of the stand it is on, probably “an allusion to Christ as the “living water” of God. The fountain therefore is the Fountain of Life…”.

There are also patriarchs and prophets from the Old Testament with female and male saints of the church around the lamb in the panel. Beside Mary, is God’s first male creation, Adam, and beside John the Baptist, is God’s first female creation Eve with their “literal marginalization... is indicative of their state of sin.” The panel above Adam’s head is Cain and Abel’s sacrifice to God, Adam and Eve’s sons; and Abel’s gift being accepted, but Cain’s is not. On top of Eve’s head, Cain, the first son, is murdering his brother Abel out of jealousy for his gift being rejected by God

I chose the Ghent Altarpiece mainly because I am very interested in the religion of Christianity, how it was created, and how it correlates with my own depiction of God. My God is the universe, since without it we would not be alive on this planet, breathing the air, drinking the water granted to us from the cosmos. I am not a Christian myself, nor am I of any religion, but I find other religions to be interesting with their elaborate and intricate stories of how humans are or can be. After all, all religions are stories people created to believe in a higher power, and it fascinates me the different theories people created to explain the beginning of life. Most of my family was raised a Christian; for example, my mother and my grandmother, but I don't necessarily believe in the Christian religion or the idea that there is a God out there as depicted in the Bible. I was raised a Christian for a short period of my life as well, but I never committed to it and decided it wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted to have. In my eyes, humans should be able to experience mistakes and evolve from them, unlike in the Bible, if you commit a sin you must repent or you will die and have a terrible ‘afterlife’. Not only in Christianity, but there are many religions saying that sins are unfaithful and should never be thought about or commited if you wish to have a happy afterlife in the sky alongside God. As a human being, I would like to commit sins (that doesn’t endanger my life or other’s) and learn from them to know how to do deal with it the next time I possibly encounter a similar situation. I do not wish to live in the constant fear that if I want to be happy and accepted by others that I have to be a perfect human with no regrets and mistakes. I would love to be there for others who made mistakes similar to mine so I can help them in that situation too. The Ghent Altarpiece is a masterpiece showing the imaginative mind of Jan Van Eyck, and possibly his brother Hubert, and how Christianity has many creative storylines with the emotions a human can feel.