WEBVTT - The Ghent Altarpiece: Chasing the Lost 'Just Judges' Panel 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:05.920 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda Land Audio in 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:15.600 partnership with I Heart Radio. Do you remember when you 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:20.080 got your first smartphone or maybe your first Polaroid instant camera. 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:24.959 I think I just dated myself. Everyone went photo crazy 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.760 in the century. It was oil paint that was the 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:32.479 new hot tech. Unlike tempera paints before it, oil paints 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:36.400 offered artists a wider array of technical applications and it 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.400 was just so much more flexible. It was revolutionary to 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.960 many artists, and everyone wanted a portrait or maybe a 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:48.400 painting depicting a story from classical mythology as its subject, 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:52.280 or among the more affluent crowd, maybe a devotional work 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:54.800 for a chapel they were sponsoring, work such as the 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.520 now famous Against Altarpiece, which we'll be talking about in 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:02.320 this episode. A piece at in spite of its adventurous life, 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:06.440 is still with us today. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:10.560 Tremarque and I'm Holly Fry. The search for the stolen 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:12.920 Ghent alter Piece near the end of the Second World 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.840 War is a major point of Filmed The Monument's Men, 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.559 and yes, we are going to touch on that event later, 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.800 but that's not the only time this piece has been 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:27.119 stolen and recovered or vandalized. In fact, part of it 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.640 remains missing today, and that's going to be more of 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:35.160 our focus. The Ghent alter Piece, also known as Adoration 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.440 of the Mystic Lamb, was commissioned by Yos Vade, a 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.640 wealthy merchant who is recorded as either Alderman or deputy 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:47.520 Burgomaster of Ghent, Belgium, and his wife lizbet Burlut, for 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.440 the Vade chapel in the Church of St. John the Baptist. 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.880 Today this is St. Babo Cathedral in Ghent. The work 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.200 was probably commissioned in the mid fourteen twenties. We're not 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:01.480 sure about that, but what we do know is that 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:05.440 it was completed and ready for viewing in fourteen thirty two. 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.359 It is considered the most famous Flemish painting from the 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:13.360 Renaissance period, and as we're about to get into it's 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.560 kind of a miracle that it has made it this 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:19.600 far through history during the time of the Renaissance, so 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:24.880 we're talking fourteenth century into seventeenth century Ish. A large 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:28.080 altar piece such as this one, how do unique status 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:32.440 as a commission These were works typically produced by artists 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:36.800 with a capital A a commissioned altarpiece would when installed 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:40.560 the A if not the focal point inside a chapel. 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.240 The Gatt alterpiece is a politic type, which means it 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.040 has multiple panels that are designed to be opened and 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.760 closed by folding hinged side panels. So when it's open, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.040 the alter piece measures roughly eleven and a half by 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:57.160 fifteen feet or that's three and a half by four 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.280 and a half meters, and with its shutters closed it 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:02.840 measures about eleven and a half by seven and a 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:05.040 half feet or three and a half by two meters. 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.680 So what we're talking about here is big. This is 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:12.119 a large piece of artwork. Consider a standard garage door 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.400 and a standard suburb in the United States is seven 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:19.440 and north maybe eight feet high to compare, so the 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.360 work is tall, tall enough to include life size nudes. 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.320 The piece is composed of twelve framed oak panels, eight 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.880 of which are painted on both sides using oil paints 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:33.079 to visually tell Christian biblical stories. The overarching theme here 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:38.600 centers around the redemption of humanity. The lower center panel 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.000 of this piece is by far the largest of the panels, 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.640 and it's the panel depicting the story that gives the 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:48.560 altar piece its name. It shows a crowd worshiping a lamb, 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:52.120 which of course symbolizes Jesus Christ and his sacrifice in 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:56.760 the crucifixion story. Above the lamb is a dove symbolizing 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.920 the Holy Spirit. Among all the panels there are depictions 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:05.360 of Christ, the Virgin Mary, Adam and Eve, saints, angels, prophets, 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.400 a curiously humanoid sheep which has made art history students 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.320 chuckle throughout the years. There are some other Biblical figures 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:16.599 as well, and they include stories like the Annunciation to 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.520 the Virgin Mary as well as the passion of Christ. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.479 Yos and his wife appear on the back panels of 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.680 the piece. On the far left bottom panel you'll find 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.440 the kneeling figure of Yos and the far right has 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:34.000 the kneeling figure of Lizbet. So we've got a work 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.160 of art, added the couple who commissioned it. So now 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.440 let's talk about a guy named Yon van Eyke, the 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:44.239 artist who painted it. Yon Vnik is the most famous 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.359 member of a family of painters from the town of 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.880 Messak in the Diocese of Liege in the Holy Roman Empire. 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:54.960 This area is now Belgium. He was born in give 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:56.640 or take a year or two here, it's a little 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:01.000 fuzzy along that timeline, and had three siblings, one sister, 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:05.159 Margareta and two brothers, Hubert and Lambert. As an adult, 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.000 Yon primarily lived and worked in the city of Bruges 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.600 and is in Bruge, where he painted what many consider 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:17.120 his greatest achievement, this Ghent altarpiece. Some artists inspire you, 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.120 said the New York Times of a Jan Vanic retrospective 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:26.840 in nak They continued, leaves you stupefied. Jan painted religious 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:32.279 commissions and portraits of Burgundian courtiers, nobles, churchmen, and merchants. 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:36.119 In October of fourteen twenty two, Jon cannot really hide 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.800 from the historical record because at that point he was 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:43.480 appointed Valet de chambre, the court painter of John of 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.880 Bavaria account of Hinup Holland, and that was a position 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:51.240 he held until the count's death in fourteen. He then 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:54.880 took a prestigious appointment with Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:59.479 also as court painter. Some historians believe that some of 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.760 his freak went travels for the Burgundian court were actually 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:06.360 diplomatic missions that would have been uncommon for a court 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:10.799 painter to do. Other historians believe that those so called 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.960 diplomatic missions, yeah, that should have air quotes, and instead 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.719 they theorized that he likely was traveling as a spy 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:23.200 for the Duke. But spying or no spying, the travel 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.719 that he did broadened his horizons, and in turn, what 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:30.400 he saw on those travels often became content in his art. 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.840 Jan Vanak was gifted with oil paints and experimented with 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:40.000 new textures, light, and spatial effects of nature. He filled 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:43.200 his paintings with religious symbols and often disguised them as 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.680 everyday objects, such as the sun. The realism of his 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:51.800 pieces was admired by Italian humanist Syriachis Dancona, who observed 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.320 that vanaks art seemed to have been produced quote, not 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:58.440 by the artifice of human hands, but by all bearing 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:04.320 nature herself. Modern day American art historian, novelist and founder 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.880 of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, Noah 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.360 Charney writes in his book Stealing the Mystic Lamb quote, 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:16.200 until the altarpiece was painted, only portrait managers and illuminated 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:21.000 manuscripts contained such detail. Nothing like this intricacy had ever 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:24.360 been seen before on such a grand scale by artists 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:30.520 or admirers. Painter and printmaker Albrecht Dura praised John regarding 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.800 the altarpiece during a visit to gain describing the work 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:38.800 as quote a stupendous piece of religious art and scooching 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.680 a little bit up the historical timeline to fifteen sixty 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:46.800 two Flemish. Another Landish historian, Marcus van Wernwick, referred to 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:52.200 Jan as the creator of another Landish Renaissance masterpiece. But 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.200 there's actually a semi secret about the gain To alterpiece. 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:01.800 It wasn't painted by Jan van Ike. Well it was, 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:06.760 and it wasn't tomorr Uh. It is a work that 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.680 seems to have been started by Hubert van Eyck and 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:15.040 completed after his death by his younger brother Yawn. This 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.120 is a really big deal, if you can imagine. In 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:19.360 the art world, up until just a few years ago, 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.640 the idea that Hubert was a contributing artist on the 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:27.400 piece was questionable. American medieval art historian Herbert Kessler has 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:31.000 said about Hubert quote whether this Hubert van Eyke was 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.559 related to Jan and why in the sixteenth century he 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.800 was credited with the major sheriff against altar piece are 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:44.120 questions that remain unanswered, but information today is changing rapidly 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:49.439 and recently too. Hubert died in fourteen so well before 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.200 the altarpiece was completed, and though there are no other 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.319 works of art attributed to him, at least not yet. 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:01.920 When a restoration and analysis of the altarpiece began, scholars 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:06.360 identified an elaborate underlying painting that they now attribute to 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:10.679 the elder van Ike. It's believed that Hubert painted the sky, 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:14.360 a hilly landscape, some simple cities on the horizon, and 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:19.640 a meadow. Yon's hand, though is recognizable. He it's clear, 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:24.040 painted over that landscape and added a few recognizable motifs 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.080 to those cities on the horizon, including the tower of 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:30.000 Utrecht Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:32.880 Some of the figures in the work appear to have 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.360 been painted by Hubert and left untouched by Jan, while 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.640 others are unmistakably done by Jan's hand. In the center 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:44.480 of the altarpiece, Hubert had painted a natural spring, which 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.840 Yon transformed into the fountain of life, says Great Stay, 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.920 art restorer and art historian at the Royal Institute for 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:56.480 Cultural Heritage in Brussels. Quote, we actually think that Hubert 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.959 made the underdrawing, had already started working on it in paint, 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.680 but that he had to stop work at a certain point. 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.640 Yawn then finished it off. Hubert's role in the painting 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.800 has always been, and continues to be, something of a mystery. 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.000 In eighteen twenty three, which puts us roughly four hundred 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.000 years after the piece was created, a Latin quatrain was 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:20.920 found under over paint on the frame of the piece, 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:25.360 stating quote, the painter Hubert van I, a greater man 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:30.160 was never found, started this work. His brother Yahn, second 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.320 in art, completed this arduous task at the request of 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.760 yas faith. He invites you on the sixth of May 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.760 with this first behold what was done. This message from 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.360 the Van Eyed brothers is inscribed in Latin on the 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:46.760 lower frames of their altarpiece and later verified by the 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:51.120 Royal Institute as original. So really we are on the 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.680 historical timeline kind of smack in the middle of this 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:59.880 Hubert controversy. Just recently restorers again confirmed with the quatrain 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:04.600 inscription is original to the work. According to the Royal Institute, 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.760 this research. Quote brings clarity to an old enigma and 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.080 opens the door to a new chapter in the study 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:13.120 of the Flemish primitives the search for other paintings by 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.440 Hubert van Night. When the Altar Piece was unveiled on 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:22.160 May sixty two, the Bishop of Ghent, Lord Vaneka, was 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:26.439 quoted as saying, quote, religious and Christian heritage is unlocked 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:30.040 here in a unique way. This is not only important 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:32.360 for the sake of the past, but even more so 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:37.319 for today and tomorrow. He continued, quote, it confronts us 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:41.480 with humans eternal quest for mystery. I am convinced that 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.920 many people will find personal residents here. We're going to 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.480 take a break right now for a word from our sponsor, 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:51.520 and when we return, we will talk about how our 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.760 historians argue that the Altar Piece is the first great 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.680 oil painting, and we'll also talk about how many brush 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:15.360 has it's had with danger. Welcome back to Criminalia. It 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.200 was in the mid sixteenth century when life for the 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.560 Altarpiece became fraught with danger, and that piece has never 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:28.280 been the same literally and figuratively ever since Napoleon once 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.440 stole several of its panels. The Nazis they took the 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.679 whole thing. The Ghent Altarpiece has been the victim of 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.079 more than a dozen crimes since its installation, as well 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:43.680 as several fafts. It's quote arguably the single most important 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.120 painting ever made. It's the first great oil painting. It 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:51.160 influenced oil paintings for centuries to come. That's a quote 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:54.800 from art historian Noah Charney, who continues saying it's the 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:58.080 first great panel painting of the Renaissance, a forerunner to 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.240 artistic realism. The monumentality of it and the complexity of 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:07.520 it fascinated people from the moment it was painted. During 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:10.720 the first century of its existence, things are pretty quiet 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.120 for the altar piece. It wasn't first threatened with acts 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:18.400 of destruction until the sixteenth century, when the Protestant Reformation 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:22.200 swept through Europe and any ornate art in churches was 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:27.280 regarded as superfluous and therefore destroyed. In fifteen sixty six, 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.800 the work was dismantled into its component panels and stored 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.079 in the church's tower to protect it from rioters who 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.520 were breaking into churches to smash art and objects that 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:41.080 they considered to be an example of Catholic excess and 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:45.480 idolatry for the next eighteen years. It's reported that the 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.800 piece was protected in a fortified room in the town 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:54.319 hall in Ghent. And now jumping ahead on the vandalism 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:59.480 and theft timeline to see Emperor Joseph the two of 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:03.040 the Holy him An Empire, which at that time encompassed Belgium, 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:07.160 demanded censure of the panels depicting naked Adam and Eve 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.000 in the Story of the Garden of Eden. The panels 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.520 were replaced with replicas that had one edition. They depicted 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.559 the pair wearing bear skins. By the time the piece 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.080 ended up in Paris after the French Revolution, the bear 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.720 skins were gone. Though Paris, you might be asking, when 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.760 did we go to Paris? French soldiers stole four of 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.600 the panels from the cathedral and had transported them by 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.240 horse drawn cart to exhibit at Napoleon's new museum in Paris, 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:38.000 the Loup. The panels were not returned again until eighteen fifteen, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.160 when Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington. 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:43.720 And there's a name we've mentioned on this show in 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.360 a few different seasons who returned the piece to Saint 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:51.840 Babo's Cathedral. The next problem wasn't a theft, and it 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:56.720 wasn't vandalism. It was the clergy. Shortly after the return 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.880 of the altar piece, a local vicar pawned six of 0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:02.840 the paintings wing panels. Those are those side panels we 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.280 talked about earlier to a local art dealer named Lambert 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:10.480 new and Heys for three thousand guilders. They were eventually 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:14.480 returned following public outrage in Ghent, but the legend of 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.960 the altar piece just keeps rolling. In eighteen twenty two, 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.920 fire broke out in the cathedral and the piece narrowly escaped. 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.720 Some tales of the legend of the altar piece suggests 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:30.400 that during the nineteenth century some panels also legally found 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:32.560 their way into the hands of the King of Prussia 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:37.600 Frederick William the Third and likely illegally obtained. Some panels 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:41.160 were also in the possession of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:45.560 in Berlin. There are also some more tenuous tales about 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:47.760 this piece, such as this one from eighteen sixty one, 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:51.400 where it's suggested the State of Belgium convinced the church 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:55.479 administration of St. Babo's Cathedral to sell them the original 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.760 panels featuring the naked Adam and Eve for fifty thousand 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:02.000 Belgian Franks, with the intent that the panels were to 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:08.040 be exhibited at the National Museum in Brussels. Sure maybe, really, 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.520 where things get hairy for this piece. It doesn't come 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.600 down to which museum the work is being exhibited in 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.880 or when the hairiness of this happens when the world 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:24.280 goes to war. When Germany invaded Belgium in nineteen fourteen 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.800 during the First World War, the Belgian government feared the 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:32.520 confiscation of the gent altarpiece. Kennan Gabriel vanden Gein of St. 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:36.240 Babo's Cathedral was assigned to oversee the protection of this 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.840 important artwork. With no time to get the altar piece 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.320 out of the country, the story goes that the Cannon 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:46.440 came up with a quick solution. He requested two Belgian 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.240 ministers drop a false letter stating that the altar piece 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:53.640 was to be transported to England for safekeeping during the war, 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.440 and if the Germans came to collect it, they would 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.880 be given that letter. And then Vandergame arranged for the 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:05.600 secret transportation of the work in Wooden crates to two 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:09.919 Ghentish homes, where legend says the panels were bricked into 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:15.760 walls and hidden under floorboards for their safety. Vandergaid's trick worked, 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.720 but many locals feared reprisal by the Germans if they 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:24.359 ever discovered the Ghent altarpiece was missing. After the war, 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.520 in nineteen nineteen, article to forty seven of the Treaty 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.840 of Versailles between Germany and the Allied Powers stated quote 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.280 Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium through the Reparations Commission 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:37.679 within six months of the coming into force of the 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.800 present treaty in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute too 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:46.000 great artistic works, and the first named work was the 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.240 panels of the Mystic Lamb. All panels that had been 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:53.520 in Germany were returned again in nineteen and some reports 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:56.680 suggest there had been damaged. That the side panels from 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.200 the altar piece that had been exhibited in Berlin had 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.880 been cut in alf vertically in an effort to exhibit 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.359 both sides of the pieces at the same time. The 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.119 panels were delivered again on a train decorated with the 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.040 Belgian flag, and the procession has been described as a 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.920 wounded war hero returning home. The piece was met by 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:19.200 large crowds in every city where the train passed through. 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.760 Church fells chimed and the national anthem of Belgium played, 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.720 and for a moment, the Ghent altar Piece was intact 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:31.399 just a moment, though, because the altar pieces biggest adventure 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:36.399 happened on the morning of April eleven four. That morning, 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:40.119 a church steward named Oscar von Buchot began preparing for 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:43.879 morning service, but when he arrived, he was surprised to 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.800 find that one parishioner had already made her way inside 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:50.520 the church, which led him to wonder why had the 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:54.280 church not been locked, and that is when he realized 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.679 that something bigger was afoot The steward ran off to 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:01.360 alert Kennon van Degen, who then in turn alerted the police. 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:05.720 As one does, church authorities panicked and rushed into the 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:09.280 cathedral sacristy, where the church's jewels and articles of worship 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.760 were kept, and it seemed everything was in place, but 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:17.119 upon closer look they realized that thieves had stolen two 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:21.120 panels of the gent altarpiece, one a depiction of St. 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:25.120 John the Baptist and another depicting an equestrian scene known 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:29.320 as the Just Judges. Some historians report that there was 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:33.040 a note written in French stating quote taken from Germany 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.000 by the Treaty of Versailles, and that had been left 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:40.760 on the frame. Ghent Police Commissioner Antoine Lesterburg came to 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.760 the scene for the initial investigation, but frankly, that investigation 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:48.080 was a joke. The police didn't clear the gathering crowd 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:51.159 out of the chapel, they didn't seal off the crime scene. 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.800 In fact, they didn't try to photograph the crime scene 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.680 or look for fingerprints or footprints or any kind of clues. 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:02.560 There been another theft earlier that same night at a 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.359 cheese shop across the street, and the commissioner had made 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:14.360 that investigation their priority. Guda is my priority. Listen I understand. 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:22.120 I was like, oh, I get it. It's right across 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:26.320 the street. He can watch both. She's is very important. 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:32.840 Nineteen days after this theft, the Bishop of Ghent and 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.639 Ray Joseph Copet received the first of thirteen ransom notes, 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.560 all signed with the letters d U A. The first, 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:44.320 delivered in a green envelope, demanded one million Belgian franks. 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:47.879 The note read quote it is our privilege to inform 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:50.320 you that we possessed the two paintings by Van Knight, 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.879 which were stolen from the cathedral of your city. We 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:56.280 feel that it is better not to explain to you 0:20:57.000 --> 0:21:00.639 by what dramatic events we now possessed these pearls. It 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:04.160 happened in so incoherent a manner that the current location 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:06.800 of the two pieces is known only to one of us. 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:10.040 This fact is the only thing that should concern you 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:15.399 because of its terrifying implications. The ransom request was cash 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.399 with no traceable serial numbers, wrapped in brown paper and 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.000 sealed with the insignia of the diocese. We understand the 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:25.720 note read quote that the demanded amount is high, but 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:28.600 a million can be regained, whereas a van Nyke can 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:32.200 never be painted again. If the church refused to pay 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:36.800 the ransom, the thieves promised to destroy those panels. If 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:39.760 he agreed with the deal, the bishop was asked to 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:43.480 publish an ad in the classified section of the local newspaper, 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:47.119 La damne U that means the Latest Hour, stating the 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:51.160 following quote, d u A in agreement with the authorities, 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:57.040 we accept your propositions totally. Crown Prosecutor that's a state prosecutor. 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.960 Franz Daheim stepped in to lead the ransom negotiations and 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:04.480 his stance was ah, he did not plan on giving 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:08.199 the thieves a dime. The Belgian government felt the same. 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:12.760 Dheim advised the bishop to place a classified ad, telling 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:18.800 the Ransomers instead that their proposition was quote exaggerated. There 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:20.960 was some back and forth on this, and we're not 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:25.240 sure what was said until May, when the bishop received 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.240 a third note from the Ransomers stating quote, we have 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:31.840 read your answer in the paper of May and take 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:36.480 full note of your obligations, observe them conscientiously, and we 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:39.840 will preserve ours as a show of good faith. They 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:42.680 had included a receipt for luggage storage in the Brussels 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:46.840 North station. At station when authorities claimed that receipt, the 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:50.320 storage clerk handed over a large flat package wrapped in 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:54.240 black wax paper, which turned out to be the panel 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:57.440 of Saint John the Baptist. No way right, I mean it. 0:22:57.520 --> 0:23:02.439 Actually they came through on that. The clerk recalled. The 0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:04.920 person who had delivered the package was a man about 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.800 fifty years old who had appointed Beard police. They'll remained 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:11.760 baffled about the identity of the thieves as well as 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:16.679 the location of the remaining missing painting. The ransom story 0:23:17.240 --> 0:23:19.880 going forward from here kind of varies a little bit 0:23:19.920 --> 0:23:23.440 depending on who tells it, but it generally goes like this. 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:28.399 An anonymous man sat inside the confessional booth at the 0:23:28.480 --> 0:23:32.159 Church of Saint Laurentius in Antwerp, Belgium, and confessed to 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:36.679 nothing whatsoever. The man was there to talk to the priest, 0:23:36.800 --> 0:23:39.560 Father Henri may la Pass, and asked him a favor. 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:44.440 A prominent Belgium family he said, needed special letters delivered 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:47.440 in secret, and would it be possible for the church 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:50.960 to help with the delivery. The priest agreed to help, 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:54.360 and though he may not have realized it, he had 0:23:54.440 --> 0:23:56.520 just agreed to be the person to hand over the 0:23:56.640 --> 0:24:00.960 ransom money for the just judge's payamel. On June one, 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:04.199 another letter arrived at the bishop's residence explaining how the 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:07.440 priest would be part of the ransom plan. Quote, we 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:10.520 ask you to personally hand over the package that contains 0:24:10.600 --> 0:24:14.639 our commission to Father may Lepas San Laurentius Church, Antwerp. 0:24:15.320 --> 0:24:17.919 You could let him know that it concerns a restitution 0:24:17.960 --> 0:24:21.080 of papers and letters involving the honor of one of 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:25.840 the most dignified families. Inside this letter was a vertically 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:28.680 torn page from a newspaper that was to be used 0:24:28.720 --> 0:24:32.160 as a sort of key for identification and for the transaction. 0:24:34.240 --> 0:24:36.840 Dehim went along with this ransom plan, despite the fact 0:24:36.880 --> 0:24:38.800 that earlier we said he didn't want anything to do 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:42.520 with it. He wrapped money in brown paper and stamped 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:45.600 it with the seal following the demands. He also gave 0:24:45.640 --> 0:24:49.520 Father may Lepass the vertical strip of newspaper, and the 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:53.359 priest did the deed. On June fourteenth, a taxi driver 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:55.680 drove up to the rectory, stating he was there to 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:58.439 pick up a parcel. The men verified each other with 0:24:58.480 --> 0:25:00.960 the torn newspaper and the some money was given to 0:25:01.040 --> 0:25:04.200 the driver, who then drove away. But the package that 0:25:04.280 --> 0:25:08.520 Daheim had prepared didn't actually contain the requested amount of 0:25:08.560 --> 0:25:13.280 one million Belgian francs. The priest unknowingly delivered only twenty 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:16.879 five thousand Belgian francs, and that's when the bishop began 0:25:16.960 --> 0:25:21.000 receiving a series of indignant letters from an incensed ransomer, 0:25:21.000 --> 0:25:23.640 who was furious about the fact that the promised one 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:28.600 million Belgian francs had not been received of the negotiations. 0:25:28.640 --> 0:25:33.720 They wrote, quote, it is incomprehensible. We risked our lives 0:25:33.800 --> 0:25:35.960 to come into possession of these two jewels, and we 0:25:36.080 --> 0:25:38.840 keep thinking that what we ask is not excessive or 0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:43.399 impossible to realize. So basically, they were angry that they 0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:46.040 went through all the troubles to steal art and for 0:25:46.119 --> 0:25:51.080