Speaker 1: Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda Land Audio in
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Do you remember when you
Speaker 1: got your first smartphone or maybe your first Polaroid instant camera.
Speaker 1: I think I just dated myself. Everyone went photo crazy
Speaker 1: in the century. It was oil paint that was the
Speaker 1: new hot tech. Unlike tempera paints before it, oil paints
Speaker 1: offered artists a wider array of technical applications and it
Speaker 1: was just so much more flexible. It was revolutionary to
Speaker 1: many artists, and everyone wanted a portrait or maybe a
Speaker 1: painting depicting a story from classical mythology as its subject,
Speaker 1: or among the more affluent crowd, maybe a devotional work
Speaker 1: for a chapel they were sponsoring, work such as the
Speaker 1: now famous Against Altarpiece, which we'll be talking about in
Speaker 1: this episode. A piece at in spite of its adventurous life,
Speaker 1: is still with us today. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria
Speaker 1: Tremarque and I'm Holly Fry. The search for the stolen
Speaker 1: Ghent alter Piece near the end of the Second World
Speaker 1: War is a major point of Filmed The Monument's Men,
Speaker 1: and yes, we are going to touch on that event later,
Speaker 1: but that's not the only time this piece has been
Speaker 1: stolen and recovered or vandalized. In fact, part of it
Speaker 1: remains missing today, and that's going to be more of
Speaker 1: our focus. The Ghent alter Piece, also known as Adoration
Speaker 1: of the Mystic Lamb, was commissioned by Yos Vade, a
Speaker 1: wealthy merchant who is recorded as either Alderman or deputy
Speaker 1: Burgomaster of Ghent, Belgium, and his wife lizbet Burlut, for
Speaker 1: the Vade chapel in the Church of St. John the Baptist.
Speaker 1: Today this is St. Babo Cathedral in Ghent. The work
Speaker 1: was probably commissioned in the mid fourteen twenties. We're not
Speaker 1: sure about that, but what we do know is that
Speaker 1: it was completed and ready for viewing in fourteen thirty two.
Speaker 1: It is considered the most famous Flemish painting from the
Speaker 1: Renaissance period, and as we're about to get into it's
Speaker 1: kind of a miracle that it has made it this
Speaker 1: far through history during the time of the Renaissance, so
Speaker 1: we're talking fourteenth century into seventeenth century Ish. A large
Speaker 1: altar piece such as this one, how do unique status
Speaker 1: as a commission These were works typically produced by artists
Speaker 1: with a capital A a commissioned altarpiece would when installed
Speaker 1: the A if not the focal point inside a chapel.
Speaker 1: The Gatt alterpiece is a politic type, which means it
Speaker 1: has multiple panels that are designed to be opened and
Speaker 1: closed by folding hinged side panels. So when it's open,
Speaker 1: the alter piece measures roughly eleven and a half by
Speaker 1: fifteen feet or that's three and a half by four
Speaker 1: and a half meters, and with its shutters closed it
Speaker 1: measures about eleven and a half by seven and a
Speaker 1: half feet or three and a half by two meters.
Speaker 1: So what we're talking about here is big. This is
Speaker 1: a large piece of artwork. Consider a standard garage door
Speaker 1: and a standard suburb in the United States is seven
Speaker 1: and north maybe eight feet high to compare, so the
Speaker 1: work is tall, tall enough to include life size nudes.
Speaker 1: The piece is composed of twelve framed oak panels, eight
Speaker 1: of which are painted on both sides using oil paints
Speaker 1: to visually tell Christian biblical stories. The overarching theme here
Speaker 1: centers around the redemption of humanity. The lower center panel
Speaker 1: of this piece is by far the largest of the panels,
Speaker 1: and it's the panel depicting the story that gives the
Speaker 1: altar piece its name. It shows a crowd worshiping a lamb,
Speaker 1: which of course symbolizes Jesus Christ and his sacrifice in
Speaker 1: the crucifixion story. Above the lamb is a dove symbolizing
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. Among all the panels there are depictions
Speaker 1: of Christ, the Virgin Mary, Adam and Eve, saints, angels, prophets,
Speaker 1: a curiously humanoid sheep which has made art history students
Speaker 1: chuckle throughout the years. There are some other Biblical figures
Speaker 1: as well, and they include stories like the Annunciation to
Speaker 1: the Virgin Mary as well as the passion of Christ.
Speaker 1: Yos and his wife appear on the back panels of
Speaker 1: the piece. On the far left bottom panel you'll find
Speaker 1: the kneeling figure of Yos and the far right has
Speaker 1: the kneeling figure of Lizbet. So we've got a work
Speaker 1: of art, added the couple who commissioned it. So now
Speaker 1: let's talk about a guy named Yon van Eyke, the
Speaker 1: artist who painted it. Yon Vnik is the most famous
Speaker 1: member of a family of painters from the town of
Speaker 1: Messak in the Diocese of Liege in the Holy Roman Empire.
Speaker 1: This area is now Belgium. He was born in give
Speaker 1: or take a year or two here, it's a little
Speaker 1: fuzzy along that timeline, and had three siblings, one sister,
Speaker 1: Margareta and two brothers, Hubert and Lambert. As an adult,
Speaker 1: Yon primarily lived and worked in the city of Bruges
Speaker 1: and is in Bruge, where he painted what many consider
Speaker 1: his greatest achievement, this Ghent altarpiece. Some artists inspire you,
Speaker 1: said the New York Times of a Jan Vanic retrospective
Speaker 1: in nak They continued, leaves you stupefied. Jan painted religious
Speaker 1: commissions and portraits of Burgundian courtiers, nobles, churchmen, and merchants.
Speaker 1: In October of fourteen twenty two, Jon cannot really hide
Speaker 1: from the historical record because at that point he was
Speaker 1: appointed Valet de chambre, the court painter of John of
Speaker 1: Bavaria account of Hinup Holland, and that was a position
Speaker 1: he held until the count's death in fourteen. He then
Speaker 1: took a prestigious appointment with Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy,
Speaker 1: also as court painter. Some historians believe that some of
Speaker 1: his freak went travels for the Burgundian court were actually
Speaker 1: diplomatic missions that would have been uncommon for a court
Speaker 1: painter to do. Other historians believe that those so called
Speaker 1: diplomatic missions, yeah, that should have air quotes, and instead
Speaker 1: they theorized that he likely was traveling as a spy
Speaker 1: for the Duke. But spying or no spying, the travel
Speaker 1: that he did broadened his horizons, and in turn, what
Speaker 1: he saw on those travels often became content in his art.
Speaker 1: Jan Vanak was gifted with oil paints and experimented with
Speaker 1: new textures, light, and spatial effects of nature. He filled
Speaker 1: his paintings with religious symbols and often disguised them as
Speaker 1: everyday objects, such as the sun. The realism of his
Speaker 1: pieces was admired by Italian humanist Syriachis Dancona, who observed
Speaker 1: that vanaks art seemed to have been produced quote, not
Speaker 1: by the artifice of human hands, but by all bearing
Speaker 1: nature herself. Modern day American art historian, novelist and founder
Speaker 1: of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, Noah
Speaker 1: Charney writes in his book Stealing the Mystic Lamb quote,
Speaker 1: until the altarpiece was painted, only portrait managers and illuminated
Speaker 1: manuscripts contained such detail. Nothing like this intricacy had ever
Speaker 1: been seen before on such a grand scale by artists
Speaker 1: or admirers. Painter and printmaker Albrecht Dura praised John regarding
Speaker 1: the altarpiece during a visit to gain describing the work
Speaker 1: as quote a stupendous piece of religious art and scooching
Speaker 1: a little bit up the historical timeline to fifteen sixty
Speaker 1: two Flemish. Another Landish historian, Marcus van Wernwick, referred to
Speaker 1: Jan as the creator of another Landish Renaissance masterpiece. But
Speaker 1: there's actually a semi secret about the gain To alterpiece.
Speaker 1: It wasn't painted by Jan van Ike. Well it was,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't tomorr Uh. It is a work that
Speaker 1: seems to have been started by Hubert van Eyck and
Speaker 1: completed after his death by his younger brother Yawn. This
Speaker 1: is a really big deal, if you can imagine. In
Speaker 1: the art world, up until just a few years ago,
Speaker 1: the idea that Hubert was a contributing artist on the
Speaker 1: piece was questionable. American medieval art historian Herbert Kessler has
Speaker 1: said about Hubert quote whether this Hubert van Eyke was
Speaker 1: related to Jan and why in the sixteenth century he
Speaker 1: was credited with the major sheriff against altar piece are
Speaker 1: questions that remain unanswered, but information today is changing rapidly
Speaker 1: and recently too. Hubert died in fourteen so well before
Speaker 1: the altarpiece was completed, and though there are no other
Speaker 1: works of art attributed to him, at least not yet.
Speaker 1: When a restoration and analysis of the altarpiece began, scholars
Speaker 1: identified an elaborate underlying painting that they now attribute to
Speaker 1: the elder van Ike. It's believed that Hubert painted the sky,
Speaker 1: a hilly landscape, some simple cities on the horizon, and
Speaker 1: a meadow. Yon's hand, though is recognizable. He it's clear,
Speaker 1: painted over that landscape and added a few recognizable motifs
Speaker 1: to those cities on the horizon, including the tower of
Speaker 1: Utrecht Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady in Bruges.
Speaker 1: Some of the figures in the work appear to have
Speaker 1: been painted by Hubert and left untouched by Jan, while
Speaker 1: others are unmistakably done by Jan's hand. In the center
Speaker 1: of the altarpiece, Hubert had painted a natural spring, which
Speaker 1: Yon transformed into the fountain of life, says Great Stay,
Speaker 1: art restorer and art historian at the Royal Institute for
Speaker 1: Cultural Heritage in Brussels. Quote, we actually think that Hubert
Speaker 1: made the underdrawing, had already started working on it in paint,
Speaker 1: but that he had to stop work at a certain point.
Speaker 1: Yawn then finished it off. Hubert's role in the painting
Speaker 1: has always been, and continues to be, something of a mystery.
Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty three, which puts us roughly four hundred
Speaker 1: years after the piece was created, a Latin quatrain was
Speaker 1: found under over paint on the frame of the piece,
Speaker 1: stating quote, the painter Hubert van I, a greater man
Speaker 1: was never found, started this work. His brother Yahn, second
Speaker 1: in art, completed this arduous task at the request of
Speaker 1: yas faith. He invites you on the sixth of May
Speaker 1: with this first behold what was done. This message from
Speaker 1: the Van Eyed brothers is inscribed in Latin on the
Speaker 1: lower frames of their altarpiece and later verified by the
Speaker 1: Royal Institute as original. So really we are on the
Speaker 1: historical timeline kind of smack in the middle of this
Speaker 1: Hubert controversy. Just recently restorers again confirmed with the quatrain
Speaker 1: inscription is original to the work. According to the Royal Institute,
Speaker 1: this research. Quote brings clarity to an old enigma and
Speaker 1: opens the door to a new chapter in the study
Speaker 1: of the Flemish primitives the search for other paintings by
Speaker 1: Hubert van Night. When the Altar Piece was unveiled on
Speaker 1: May sixty two, the Bishop of Ghent, Lord Vaneka, was
Speaker 1: quoted as saying, quote, religious and Christian heritage is unlocked
Speaker 1: here in a unique way. This is not only important
Speaker 1: for the sake of the past, but even more so
Speaker 1: for today and tomorrow. He continued, quote, it confronts us
Speaker 1: with humans eternal quest for mystery. I am convinced that
Speaker 1: many people will find personal residents here. We're going to
Speaker 1: take a break right now for a word from our sponsor,
Speaker 1: and when we return, we will talk about how our
Speaker 1: historians argue that the Altar Piece is the first great
Speaker 1: oil painting, and we'll also talk about how many brush
Speaker 1: has it's had with danger. Welcome back to Criminalia. It
Speaker 1: was in the mid sixteenth century when life for the
Speaker 1: Altarpiece became fraught with danger, and that piece has never
Speaker 1: been the same literally and figuratively ever since Napoleon once
Speaker 1: stole several of its panels. The Nazis they took the
Speaker 1: whole thing. The Ghent Altarpiece has been the victim of
Speaker 1: more than a dozen crimes since its installation, as well
Speaker 1: as several fafts. It's quote arguably the single most important
Speaker 1: painting ever made. It's the first great oil painting. It
Speaker 1: influenced oil paintings for centuries to come. That's a quote
Speaker 1: from art historian Noah Charney, who continues saying it's the
Speaker 1: first great panel painting of the Renaissance, a forerunner to
Speaker 1: artistic realism. The monumentality of it and the complexity of
Speaker 1: it fascinated people from the moment it was painted. During
Speaker 1: the first century of its existence, things are pretty quiet
Speaker 1: for the altar piece. It wasn't first threatened with acts
Speaker 1: of destruction until the sixteenth century, when the Protestant Reformation
Speaker 1: swept through Europe and any ornate art in churches was
Speaker 1: regarded as superfluous and therefore destroyed. In fifteen sixty six,
Speaker 1: the work was dismantled into its component panels and stored
Speaker 1: in the church's tower to protect it from rioters who
Speaker 1: were breaking into churches to smash art and objects that
Speaker 1: they considered to be an example of Catholic excess and
Speaker 1: idolatry for the next eighteen years. It's reported that the
Speaker 1: piece was protected in a fortified room in the town
Speaker 1: hall in Ghent. And now jumping ahead on the vandalism
Speaker 1: and theft timeline to see Emperor Joseph the two of
Speaker 1: the Holy him An Empire, which at that time encompassed Belgium,
Speaker 1: demanded censure of the panels depicting naked Adam and Eve
Speaker 1: in the Story of the Garden of Eden. The panels
Speaker 1: were replaced with replicas that had one edition. They depicted
Speaker 1: the pair wearing bear skins. By the time the piece
Speaker 1: ended up in Paris after the French Revolution, the bear
Speaker 1: skins were gone. Though Paris, you might be asking, when
Speaker 1: did we go to Paris? French soldiers stole four of
Speaker 1: the panels from the cathedral and had transported them by
Speaker 1: horse drawn cart to exhibit at Napoleon's new museum in Paris,
Speaker 1: the Loup. The panels were not returned again until eighteen fifteen,
Speaker 1: when Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington.
Speaker 1: And there's a name we've mentioned on this show in
Speaker 1: a few different seasons who returned the piece to Saint
Speaker 1: Babo's Cathedral. The next problem wasn't a theft, and it
Speaker 1: wasn't vandalism. It was the clergy. Shortly after the return
Speaker 1: of the altar piece, a local vicar pawned six of
Speaker 1: the paintings wing panels. Those are those side panels we
Speaker 1: talked about earlier to a local art dealer named Lambert
Speaker 1: new and Heys for three thousand guilders. They were eventually
Speaker 1: returned following public outrage in Ghent, but the legend of
Speaker 1: the altar piece just keeps rolling. In eighteen twenty two,
Speaker 1: fire broke out in the cathedral and the piece narrowly escaped.
Speaker 1: Some tales of the legend of the altar piece suggests
Speaker 1: that during the nineteenth century some panels also legally found
Speaker 1: their way into the hands of the King of Prussia
Speaker 1: Frederick William the Third and likely illegally obtained. Some panels
Speaker 1: were also in the possession of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum
Speaker 1: in Berlin. There are also some more tenuous tales about
Speaker 1: this piece, such as this one from eighteen sixty one,
Speaker 1: where it's suggested the State of Belgium convinced the church
Speaker 1: administration of St. Babo's Cathedral to sell them the original
Speaker 1: panels featuring the naked Adam and Eve for fifty thousand
Speaker 1: Belgian Franks, with the intent that the panels were to
Speaker 1: be exhibited at the National Museum in Brussels. Sure maybe, really,
Speaker 1: where things get hairy for this piece. It doesn't come
Speaker 1: down to which museum the work is being exhibited in
Speaker 1: or when the hairiness of this happens when the world
Speaker 1: goes to war. When Germany invaded Belgium in nineteen fourteen
Speaker 1: during the First World War, the Belgian government feared the
Speaker 1: confiscation of the gent altarpiece. Kennan Gabriel vanden Gein of St.
Speaker 1: Babo's Cathedral was assigned to oversee the protection of this
Speaker 1: important artwork. With no time to get the altar piece
Speaker 1: out of the country, the story goes that the Cannon
Speaker 1: came up with a quick solution. He requested two Belgian
Speaker 1: ministers drop a false letter stating that the altar piece
Speaker 1: was to be transported to England for safekeeping during the war,
Speaker 1: and if the Germans came to collect it, they would
Speaker 1: be given that letter. And then Vandergame arranged for the
Speaker 1: secret transportation of the work in Wooden crates to two
Speaker 1: Ghentish homes, where legend says the panels were bricked into
Speaker 1: walls and hidden under floorboards for their safety. Vandergaid's trick worked,
Speaker 1: but many locals feared reprisal by the Germans if they
Speaker 1: ever discovered the Ghent altarpiece was missing. After the war,
Speaker 1: in nineteen nineteen, article to forty seven of the Treaty
Speaker 1: of Versailles between Germany and the Allied Powers stated quote
Speaker 1: Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium through the Reparations Commission
Speaker 1: within six months of the coming into force of the
Speaker 1: present treaty in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute too
Speaker 1: great artistic works, and the first named work was the
Speaker 1: panels of the Mystic Lamb. All panels that had been
Speaker 1: in Germany were returned again in nineteen and some reports
Speaker 1: suggest there had been damaged. That the side panels from
Speaker 1: the altar piece that had been exhibited in Berlin had
Speaker 1: been cut in alf vertically in an effort to exhibit
Speaker 1: both sides of the pieces at the same time. The
Speaker 1: panels were delivered again on a train decorated with the
Speaker 1: Belgian flag, and the procession has been described as a
Speaker 1: wounded war hero returning home. The piece was met by
Speaker 1: large crowds in every city where the train passed through.
Speaker 1: Church fells chimed and the national anthem of Belgium played,
Speaker 1: and for a moment, the Ghent altar Piece was intact
Speaker 1: just a moment, though, because the altar pieces biggest adventure
Speaker 1: happened on the morning of April eleven four. That morning,
Speaker 1: a church steward named Oscar von Buchot began preparing for
Speaker 1: morning service, but when he arrived, he was surprised to
Speaker 1: find that one parishioner had already made her way inside
Speaker 1: the church, which led him to wonder why had the
Speaker 1: church not been locked, and that is when he realized
Speaker 1: that something bigger was afoot The steward ran off to
Speaker 1: alert Kennon van Degen, who then in turn alerted the police.
Speaker 1: As one does, church authorities panicked and rushed into the
Speaker 1: cathedral sacristy, where the church's jewels and articles of worship
Speaker 1: were kept, and it seemed everything was in place, but
Speaker 1: upon closer look they realized that thieves had stolen two
Speaker 1: panels of the gent altarpiece, one a depiction of St.
Speaker 1: John the Baptist and another depicting an equestrian scene known
Speaker 1: as the Just Judges. Some historians report that there was
Speaker 1: a note written in French stating quote taken from Germany
Speaker 1: by the Treaty of Versailles, and that had been left
Speaker 1: on the frame. Ghent Police Commissioner Antoine Lesterburg came to
Speaker 1: the scene for the initial investigation, but frankly, that investigation
Speaker 1: was a joke. The police didn't clear the gathering crowd
Speaker 1: out of the chapel, they didn't seal off the crime scene.
Speaker 1: In fact, they didn't try to photograph the crime scene
Speaker 1: or look for fingerprints or footprints or any kind of clues.
Speaker 1: There been another theft earlier that same night at a
Speaker 1: cheese shop across the street, and the commissioner had made
Speaker 1: that investigation their priority. Guda is my priority. Listen I understand.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I get it. It's right across
Speaker 1: the street. He can watch both. She's is very important.
Speaker 1: Nineteen days after this theft, the Bishop of Ghent and
Speaker 1: Ray Joseph Copet received the first of thirteen ransom notes,
Speaker 1: all signed with the letters d U A. The first,
Speaker 1: delivered in a green envelope, demanded one million Belgian franks.
Speaker 1: The note read quote it is our privilege to inform
Speaker 1: you that we possessed the two paintings by Van Knight,
Speaker 1: which were stolen from the cathedral of your city. We
Speaker 1: feel that it is better not to explain to you
Speaker 1: by what dramatic events we now possessed these pearls. It
Speaker 1: happened in so incoherent a manner that the current location
Speaker 1: of the two pieces is known only to one of us.
Speaker 1: This fact is the only thing that should concern you
Speaker 1: because of its terrifying implications. The ransom request was cash
Speaker 1: with no traceable serial numbers, wrapped in brown paper and
Speaker 1: sealed with the insignia of the diocese. We understand the
Speaker 1: note read quote that the demanded amount is high, but
Speaker 1: a million can be regained, whereas a van Nyke can
Speaker 1: never be painted again. If the church refused to pay
Speaker 1: the ransom, the thieves promised to destroy those panels. If
Speaker 1: he agreed with the deal, the bishop was asked to
Speaker 1: publish an ad in the classified section of the local newspaper,
Speaker 1: La damne U that means the Latest Hour, stating the
Speaker 1: following quote, d u A in agreement with the authorities,
Speaker 1: we accept your propositions totally. Crown Prosecutor that's a state prosecutor.
Speaker 1: Franz Daheim stepped in to lead the ransom negotiations and
Speaker 1: his stance was ah, he did not plan on giving
Speaker 1: the thieves a dime. The Belgian government felt the same.
Speaker 1: Dheim advised the bishop to place a classified ad, telling
Speaker 1: the Ransomers instead that their proposition was quote exaggerated. There
Speaker 1: was some back and forth on this, and we're not
Speaker 1: sure what was said until May, when the bishop received
Speaker 1: a third note from the Ransomers stating quote, we have
Speaker 1: read your answer in the paper of May and take
Speaker 1: full note of your obligations, observe them conscientiously, and we
Speaker 1: will preserve ours as a show of good faith. They
Speaker 1: had included a receipt for luggage storage in the Brussels
Speaker 1: North station. At station when authorities claimed that receipt, the
Speaker 1: storage clerk handed over a large flat package wrapped in
Speaker 1: black wax paper, which turned out to be the panel
Speaker 1: of Saint John the Baptist. No way right, I mean it.
Speaker 1: Actually they came through on that. The clerk recalled. The
Speaker 1: person who had delivered the package was a man about
Speaker 1: fifty years old who had appointed Beard police. They'll remained
Speaker 1: baffled about the identity of the thieves as well as
Speaker 1: the location of the remaining missing painting. The ransom story
Speaker 1: going forward from here kind of varies a little bit
Speaker 1: depending on who tells it, but it generally goes like this.
Speaker 1: An anonymous man sat inside the confessional booth at the
Speaker 1: Church of Saint Laurentius in Antwerp, Belgium, and confessed to
Speaker 1: nothing whatsoever. The man was there to talk to the priest,
Speaker 1: Father Henri may la Pass, and asked him a favor.
Speaker 1: A prominent Belgium family he said, needed special letters delivered
Speaker 1: in secret, and would it be possible for the church
Speaker 1: to help with the delivery. The priest agreed to help,
Speaker 1: and though he may not have realized it, he had
Speaker 1: just agreed to be the person to hand over the
Speaker 1: ransom money for the just judge's payamel. On June one,
Speaker 1: another letter arrived at the bishop's residence explaining how the
Speaker 1: priest would be part of the ransom plan. Quote, we
Speaker 1: ask you to personally hand over the package that contains
Speaker 1: our commission to Father may Lepas San Laurentius Church, Antwerp.
Speaker 1: You could let him know that it concerns a restitution
Speaker 1: of papers and letters involving the honor of one of
Speaker 1: the most dignified families. Inside this letter was a vertically
Speaker 1: torn page from a newspaper that was to be used
Speaker 1: as a sort of key for identification and for the transaction.
Speaker 1: Dehim went along with this ransom plan, despite the fact
Speaker 1: that earlier we said he didn't want anything to do
Speaker 1: with it. He wrapped money in brown paper and stamped
Speaker 1: it with the seal following the demands. He also gave
Speaker 1: Father may Lepass the vertical strip of newspaper, and the
Speaker 1: priest did the deed. On June fourteenth, a taxi driver
Speaker 1: drove up to the rectory, stating he was there to
Speaker 1: pick up a parcel. The men verified each other with
Speaker 1: the torn newspaper and the some money was given to
Speaker 1: the driver, who then drove away. But the package that
Speaker 1: Daheim had prepared didn't actually contain the requested amount of
Speaker 1: one million Belgian francs. The priest unknowingly delivered only twenty
Speaker 1: five thousand Belgian francs, and that's when the bishop began
Speaker 1: receiving a series of indignant letters from an incensed ransomer,
Speaker 1: who was furious about the fact that the promised one
Speaker 1: million Belgian francs had not been received of the negotiations.
Speaker 1: They wrote, quote, it is incomprehensible. We risked our lives
Speaker 1: to come into possession of these two jewels, and we
Speaker 1: keep thinking that what we ask is not excessive or
Speaker 1: impossible to realize. So basically, they were angry that they
Speaker 1: went through all the troubles to steal art and for
Speaker 1: what nothing then getting nothing. Well, we've seen the word
Speaker 1: difficult used to describe communication between the parties. After this happened,
Speaker 1: the final note from the perpetrators arrived on October one.
Speaker 1: I mean I stole your stuff. I took a lot
Speaker 1: of risk. You really owe me, you really should pay me.
Speaker 1: It's quite a stance, it was, I think so. But
Speaker 1: then after six weeks of silence, something unexpected happened. On November,
Speaker 1: fifty seven year old Arsin god d'artier, a stout stockbroker
Speaker 1: with a curly waxed mustache, collapsed shortly after giving a
Speaker 1: speech at a meeting of the local chapter of the
Speaker 1: Catholic political Party in Dendermond, Belgium. Our Sin was the
Speaker 1: owner of a small bank office in Veteran and was
Speaker 1: generally considered to be a respectable and well healed man,
Speaker 1: but on his deathbed, he summoned George da Vos, his lawyer,
Speaker 1: and whispered to him quote, I alone know where the
Speaker 1: mystic lamb is. The information is in the drawer on
Speaker 1: the right of my writing table, in an envelope marked
Speaker 1: mutu Alite. His lawyer followed instructions. He drove to our
Speaker 1: Sins home. It was only about eight miles outside of Ghent,
Speaker 1: and inside he headed towards the study. At the desk,
Speaker 1: he picked up a folder labeled Mutualite, and within he
Speaker 1: found copies of the thirteen ransom notes that had been
Speaker 1: sent to Bishop Copieter. There was also a final unsent
Speaker 1: note containing a semi clue about the stolen panels whereabouts,
Speaker 1: stating quote, I am the only one in this world
Speaker 1: who knows the places where the just judges rest. It
Speaker 1: rests in a place where neither I nor anybody else
Speaker 1: can take it away without arousing the attention of the public.
Speaker 1: I mean that sure narrows things down a whole bunch. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's somewhere in public. DeVos failed to alert authorities about
Speaker 1: our sens deathbed confession for a month. Instead, he met
Speaker 1: with four legal colleagues, a district attorney to Court of Appeals,
Speaker 1: Presidents and Franz d Him, the Crown prosecutor who you'll
Speaker 1: recognize from earlier in the ransom negotiations, to begin their
Speaker 1: own investigation. The reason for excluding authorities remains a mystery,
Speaker 1: but ultimately the lot of lawyers didn't turn up much
Speaker 1: at all. Our Son had a fake passport under the
Speaker 1: name Van Dam and they also found the typewriter assumed
Speaker 1: to have been used to type the ransom notes. Instead
Speaker 1: of securing the typewriter as evidence, the men instead used
Speaker 1: it to write their reports. They found that days after
Speaker 1: the initial heist, our Son had opened a new bank
Speaker 1: account and deposited ten thousand Belgian francs. They also discovered
Speaker 1: a key, which they eventually figured out unlocked the roof
Speaker 1: loft of St. Babo's Cathedral. Police neglected to interview Divaz.
Speaker 1: They also failed to report that confession to the diocese
Speaker 1: for another four months. Authorities all so failed to interview
Speaker 1: a woman who told local newspapers that she had seen
Speaker 1: lights flickering inside the chapel on the night of the theft.
Speaker 1: There is so much they did not do. They never
Speaker 1: examined the ransom letters. They never bothered to talk to
Speaker 1: the men who were with our Sin the day he died.
Speaker 1: Authorities did, however, eventually get around to interviewing our Sin's wife,
Speaker 1: and she admitted that her husband had made some strange
Speaker 1: comments about the gent altarpiece after the panel heist had happened,
Speaker 1: sharing that he once told her quote, if I had
Speaker 1: to go looking for the panel, I would look on
Speaker 1: the outside of St. Babo. I wouldn't look so far.
Speaker 1: If they let me search for it, I'd stay in
Speaker 1: the vicinity of the cathedral. On another occasion, she stated
Speaker 1: that she had heard him say something about the painting
Speaker 1: being moved but not stolen. Decades later, another investigator also
Speaker 1: discovered that our Sin had made a similar statement to
Speaker 1: a Fellows stockbroker, saying that quote, if you move something,
Speaker 1: it is not stolen. Well, our sent did become the
Speaker 1: prime suspect in the case, at least for the local police,
Speaker 1: but it took a super long time for that to happen,
Speaker 1: and no one could figure out his motive. And remember,
Speaker 1: he had since passed away too. It's aren't historian Charnie
Speaker 1: who suggests a theory that a group of wealthy Catholic investors,
Speaker 1: with the help of local police and church authorities perhaps
Speaker 1: stole the paintings in hopes that Belgium's government would pay
Speaker 1: ransom for them. The theory continues that maybe why ourson
Speaker 1: never spoke of the Just Judge's panel as being stolen,
Speaker 1: Maybe it wasn't it was safe to him among his
Speaker 1: fellow churchgoers. As a patron of the Catholic political party,
Speaker 1: he would have had special access to people of rank
Speaker 1: and influence within the church. In fact, he had attended
Speaker 1: the same school as Bishop Copieter as kids. Any though
Speaker 1: disagree that the wealthy and devout stockbroker would have resorted
Speaker 1: to extortion. He was involved with his local church and
Speaker 1: had co founded a Christian health service. He was a
Speaker 1: known philanthropist who helped run two Catholic charities. His past
Speaker 1: as a sexton left him with good relations with the
Speaker 1: Diocese of Ghent, and when it came to the ransom,
Speaker 1: some experts wonder why he'd ask for ransom when he
Speaker 1: died with three million Belgian francs in the bank. For decades,
Speaker 1: theories and speculations about the possible thief and the possible
Speaker 1: hiding place of the Just Judges painting have regularly emerged,
Speaker 1: but still today, investigators are empty handed, but there is
Speaker 1: a man. Carol Mortier was chief of the Ghent Police
Speaker 1: from nineteen seventy four to and he estimates he's been
Speaker 1: contacted about more than three hundred fifty possible locations for
Speaker 1: where to find the judges panel. None of those hundreds
Speaker 1: of tips have been correct. St. Babo's cathedral has been
Speaker 1: searched at least six times since the early nineteen forties,
Speaker 1: but nothing has turned up. Mortier once supervised a partial
Speaker 1: X ray of the cathedral to the depth of roughly
Speaker 1: thirty three feet or ten meters, but also found nothing,
Speaker 1: and in amateur detective exhumed he illegally dug up our
Speaker 1: sins skull and questioned it during a seance. You won't
Speaker 1: be surprised that he got no new information there either.
Speaker 1: Though he's no longer an active officer, Mortier continues to
Speaker 1: hunt for that lost panel as his investigation plays out.
Speaker 1: He has suggested our Sin could not have acted alone. First.
Speaker 1: It turns out he had a vision problem that made
Speaker 1: it difficult for him to see in the dark, and
Speaker 1: he probably would not have been capable of carrying out
Speaker 1: an art heist in a cathedral in the middle of
Speaker 1: the night. Mortier also suggested that the judge's panel taken
Speaker 1: from the altarpieces framework was so high off the ground
Speaker 1: that thieves would have needed a ladder to reach it
Speaker 1: and at least two people to remove it. He concluded
Speaker 1: that one of the four church custodians was likely involved,
Speaker 1: even if it was only just to provide a ladder.
Speaker 1: But Mortier has met with a lot of obstacles during
Speaker 1: his investigation. For instance, the church. The church granted him
Speaker 1: access to six hundred pages of archival material relating to
Speaker 1: the altarpiece, but those pages don't contain any content for
Speaker 1: the years between nineteen thirty four and nine, the exact
Speaker 1: period of time Mortier and all of us want to
Speaker 1: know more about. That kind of sounds a little like
Speaker 1: a conspiracy, but really it also seems like much of
Speaker 1: this heist investigation was just really sloppily conducted, or maybe
Speaker 1: it was a conspiracy. Who were we to say, We're
Speaker 1: going to take a break for a word from our sponsor,
Speaker 1: and when we're back, we will talk about how the
Speaker 1: altarpiece survived the Second World War. Welcome back to Criminalia.
Speaker 1: Let's talk more about that. Just judges panel but first,
Speaker 1: let's talk about how the thief from the Chief Shop
Speaker 1: spilled the beads on the perpetrators, or at least tried to.
Speaker 1: There are handful of colorful theories surrounding the laws of
Speaker 1: the Just Judges panel. Some point to police collusion. Some
Speaker 1: say the painting is buried in the tomb of Albert
Speaker 1: the First near Brussels. Some say there's a secret code
Speaker 1: hidden in the ransom notes. I have been confronted with
Speaker 1: the wildest theories. Mortier once said, over decades he's collected
Speaker 1: so much information on the Just Judges heist that it
Speaker 1: took up a reported twenty six ft of filing space.
Speaker 1: It's bigger than the piece itself. He He is also
Speaker 1: responsible for discovering archived files on Caesar Ericus, the perpetrator
Speaker 1: stealing cheese the night of the Vannyke theft. Caesar had
Speaker 1: originally recognized both of the men he'd seen at the
Speaker 1: cathedral that night. The cheese shop he robbed, remember, may
Speaker 1: have just been as close as across the street. He
Speaker 1: saw a large man in an overcoat pacing by the
Speaker 1: side of a large black sedan. He saw a second
Speaker 1: man emerge from the church with a plank tucked under
Speaker 1: his arm, but the police didn't look into his statement.
Speaker 1: In seven, Caesar revealed at least one of their identities
Speaker 1: during his plea bargain, a man named Pillardoor, prim known
Speaker 1: local smuggler. Sure there's evidence the second person may have
Speaker 1: been Go d'artier. His involvement in the story remains really interesting,
Speaker 1: and yet it's still an open case, and Eric Is
Speaker 1: could have just been naming names to shortened his own sentence.
Speaker 1: We don't know. Regardless, though, the police never wrote a
Speaker 1: second name down in their report and never follow it
Speaker 1: up on the prem league. During the Second World War,
Speaker 1: the piece was once again in high danger of looting.
Speaker 1: Joseph Garbel's, the Minister of Propaganda for the Nazi government
Speaker 1: of the Third Reich, assigned Heinrich Khone of the Nazi
Speaker 1: Art Protection Department to search for this lost work. Khen
Speaker 1: traveled to Gainst to interview our Sin d'artier's family, as
Speaker 1: well as George de Vos. Says historian Charney quote, this
Speaker 1: may sound very silly, but in fact, the Nazis and
Speaker 1: Hitler in particular, were absolutely convinced that the occult and
Speaker 1: the supernatural was real and They believed the Gainst altarpiece
Speaker 1: with some sort of mystical treasure map that could show
Speaker 1: them the location of religious relics, including the Arma Christie
Speaker 1: that's the crown of Thorns, the spear of Destiny, and
Speaker 1: other instruments in the biblical story of the Crucifixion of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Cone went to work and his investigation concluded that the
Speaker 1: panel had originally been hidden on site, but he also
Speaker 1: reported it was moved and before his arrival and intentionally
Speaker 1: to keep it out of his hands. In con seventy
Speaker 1: six page file on his search for the panel, it
Speaker 1: was clear he had been convinced the panel was hidden
Speaker 1: at the cathedral. Globo's intended the painting as a gift
Speaker 1: to Hitler, the Cone failed to find it. While Cone
Speaker 1: may have been looking for one panel, German occupiers of
Speaker 1: Belgium stole the entire altar piece. The Belgian government had
Speaker 1: dispatched the altarpiece to the Vatican for its safety, but
Speaker 1: Italy's declaration of war led to it being unexpectedly diverted
Speaker 1: to Pow in the French Pyrenees. It was there in
Speaker 1: ninety two, where it was seized by German troops who
Speaker 1: first stored it in a castle in Bavaria and then
Speaker 1: in the Alto Sea salt mines. The salt mine was
Speaker 1: one of Hitler's largest repositories for plundered art, and in
Speaker 1: it were stored roughly six thousand, five hundred paintings, as
Speaker 1: well as books, statues, furniture and jewels taken from museums
Speaker 1: and private collections throughout Europe. These treasures were intended for
Speaker 1: a planned Fureum museum. Hitler had the idea of turning
Speaker 1: the city of his youth, Lens into a culture Hupstad
Speaker 1: or cultural capital. He wanted the Ghent Altarpiece to be
Speaker 1: part of his super museum containing the world's greatest works
Speaker 1: of art. At the end of the war, Hitler ordered
Speaker 1: the salt mine to be blown up. That is a
Speaker 1: terrifying thing if you recognize how much art was in there.
Speaker 1: But not all was lost here the explosives were not
Speaker 1: yet rigged. Works were recovered by Allied troops in and
Speaker 1: that included the recovery of the Ghent Altarpiece, and there
Speaker 1: is our one reference to the monuments men. The Ghent
Speaker 1: Altarpiece was returned to Belgium on a twenty one on
Speaker 1: a chartered cargo aircraft and while we wish you really
Speaker 1: wish we could say otherwise, it was anything but safe
Speaker 1: travels for this invaluable work of arts. During the flight,
Speaker 1: a heavy storm broke out and while the crew feared
Speaker 1: the aircraft may not make it to Brussels, intact, the
Speaker 1: pilot did manage to land at a small military airfield,
Speaker 1: and after a short stay at the Royal Museum in Brussels,
Speaker 1: the altarpiece was finally returned to St. Babo's Cathedral in
Speaker 1: November of nineteen. Since its return to St. Babo's, the
Speaker 1: missing panel has since been replaced with the reproduction painted
Speaker 1: by Belgian art restorer and sometimes art forger Jeff Vandervecken
Speaker 1: and installed with the piece in n Some detectives were
Speaker 1: and maybe still are suspicious of Vandervecken's contribution. While it
Speaker 1: looks on the surface like a good deed, some wondered
Speaker 1: if it was a brilliant way to pull off a theft,
Speaker 1: and speculation abounds. There is, though, one thing about vander
Speaker 1: Becken's copy that everyone agrees really is extraordinarily odd. On
Speaker 1: the back of the replica, written in Flemish, is this
Speaker 1: cryptic poem and we quote I did it for love
Speaker 1: and for duty, and to avenge myself. I borrowed from
Speaker 1: the dark side. Today the pieces where it was intended
Speaker 1: to be in the St. Babo Cathedral in Ghent, although
Speaker 1: as an aside, it doesn't hang in its original position
Speaker 1: and because of the altarpieces multiple dismantlings over time. Some
Speaker 1: experts now question the arrangement of the panels and whether
Speaker 1: they are correctly sequenced in its current form, and that
Speaker 1: question remains unanswered. The piece is now exhibited in a
Speaker 1: twenty ft tall climate controlled case with a one thousand
Speaker 1: square foot interior and it's all protected by bulletproof glass.
Speaker 1: And for those who do want to get up close
Speaker 1: and personal with the piece, the cathedral has introduced an
Speaker 1: augmented reality experience to God visitors throughout the space virtually.
Speaker 1: Oh that sounds so cool ah and as for that
Speaker 1: still missing just judges panel. Jan Yambom, current Prime Minister
Speaker 1: of the Government of Flanders, set in a statement in
Speaker 1: quote Jan Vanik was a genius who has been astonishing
Speaker 1: the world for more than five centuries with his innovative techniques,
Speaker 1: both the Magnificent restoration and the circumstances in which the
Speaker 1: gent altarpiece can now be admired are astonishing. The splendor
Speaker 1: of colors, the details, the lighting, everything is perfect. That
Speaker 1: makes us proud. So even without the just judges, it's
Speaker 1: quite something. Even the photos of I have not seen
Speaker 1: it in person, the photos of unbelievable and it is huge.
Speaker 1: Let's go to Belgium, exactly. It makes everyone proud, so
Speaker 1: let's toast to it. Indeed, I am ready with some
Speaker 1: nice hooch. The thing that I kept fixating on in
Speaker 1: this episode, at least in my tiny mind as I
Speaker 1: thought about how to do a cocktail, was that whole
Speaker 1: concept of moved not stolen. Yeah. I like that you
Speaker 1: pick that out because it's a really interesting turn of
Speaker 1: phrase that that man kept using, right, And that made
Speaker 1: me think about other existing cocktails and how you can
Speaker 1: riff on them. You're not stealing them, but you're trying
Speaker 1: something new out of them simultaneously. I have been doing
Speaker 1: this thing where to just get better at making cocktails
Speaker 1: on the fly, like when friends come over, Like I
Speaker 1: kind of am focusing on one at a time to
Speaker 1: learn how to really do it well, or to figure
Speaker 1: out the way I like to do it. One of
Speaker 1: the ones that I have been drinking a little, because
Speaker 1: I also that's the good part, right you can go
Speaker 1: to places and order their version and get a sense
Speaker 1: of how other people do it. And one of the
Speaker 1: ones that I have been working on trying to get
Speaker 1: better at and learn how I want to do it
Speaker 1: is the paloma, which has nothing to do with Belgium.
Speaker 1: It's mostly associated with Mexico, but it is a grapefruit
Speaker 1: and tequila drink, and I will say I struggle with
Speaker 1: it too, but I thought maybe this would offer an
Speaker 1: opportunity to borrow from the Paloma. I'm moving it around.
Speaker 1: I'm not stealing, I'm moving it, making it something else.
Speaker 1: Who do you think you are a Napoleon? And there's
Speaker 1: no tequila in it, So I hope I didn't get
Speaker 1: anybody's hopes up in the tequila village. But I'm gonna
Speaker 1: make Maria real happy because there's a spirit she loves
Speaker 1: in here. I'm calling this just moved, not stolen. First
Speaker 1: of all, we have to do some combining here, because
Speaker 1: one of the things in a paloma is grapefruit juice.
Speaker 1: I find that I like a sparkling grapefruit or a soda,
Speaker 1: a grapefruit soda, so we're not putting it in the
Speaker 1: shaker with the other ingredients, because you don't want to
Speaker 1: put your bubbles in a shaker, make a disaster happen
Speaker 1: that is hard to mop up. You're gonna put a
Speaker 1: half ounce of lemon, three quarters of an ounce of
Speaker 1: simple syrup. Get ready to cheer, Maria because then two
Speaker 1: ounces of bourbon. Oh yeah, okay, paying attention. Here's listen.
Speaker 1: I have who this one is a winner, and I'll
Speaker 1: tell you why in a moment. So you're gonna shake
Speaker 1: that together. I went ahead and strained that into a
Speaker 1: second glass. Then I added the grapefruit, the sparkling grapefruit juice,
Speaker 1: which has a little bit of sugar in it already.
Speaker 1: That's why there's it's just a sweeter version of everything.
Speaker 1: Stir that together, and then I strained it once again
Speaker 1: into a Collin's glass and topped it with club soda.
Speaker 1: That's like an ounce and a half of sparkling grapefruit
Speaker 1: juice is what goes in there. So that you don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of space for club soda, because you
Speaker 1: do want a lot of ice. It's like literally just
Speaker 1: a little more smoothness dilutes it just a little. I
Speaker 1: would say, it's only like an ounce. And then I
Speaker 1: stuck a straw in it and I tried it and
Speaker 1: went whole. And then I had my husband, who is
Speaker 1: not a drinker, try it, and he was like, I
Speaker 1: want to drink this all the time. That's how much
Speaker 1: you can't taste the bourbon. But you can. Here's what happens.
Speaker 1: You're not getting that harsh flavor that sometimes a bourbon
Speaker 1: can have. You're not getting any of the heavy tones.
Speaker 1: But somehow, when juxtaposed with that sparkling grapefruit, you do
Speaker 1: get the things like the caramel note of a bourbon,
Speaker 1: and you do get like that sort of more rounded out,
Speaker 1: smoky flavor of it comes through without any of the
Speaker 1: harshness that you can sometimes have if you're not necessarily
Speaker 1: into drinking a straight brown spirit, because they can be
Speaker 1: overwhelming for people. This kind of brings out all of
Speaker 1: their most beautiful qualities while softening up the harshest parts.
Speaker 1: And it is unbelievably delicious. I'm gonna make like I said,
Speaker 1: the moved, not stolen, is going into my life on
Speaker 1: a regular basis, which is fantastic, Like I've actually never
Speaker 1: I was never sure. You say that about a bourbon base.
Speaker 1: That's trouble. But I'm gonna make a lot of them.
Speaker 1: So again. Here it is, top to bottom, a half
Speaker 1: ounce of lemon juice, three quarters of an ounce of
Speaker 1: simple syrup, two ounces of bourbon shaken strained into a
Speaker 1: second receptacle. Add an ounce and a half of sparkling
Speaker 1: grapefruit juice and stir that up. If you don't have
Speaker 1: sparkling grapefruit juice or a grapefruit soda, don't sweat it.
Speaker 1: Just use grapefruit juice. You're fine. Give that a stir,
Speaker 1: pour it into your colin's glass, and top it with
Speaker 1: You're only gonna need like an ounce of club soda. Delicious.
Speaker 1: This is an easy one to do as a mocktail,
Speaker 1: because all you gotta do is a nice heavy tea
Speaker 1: in there in the lieu of the bourbon. And I would, actually,
Speaker 1: if you are really feeling it, I would make a
Speaker 1: black tea, and then I would spice it a little bit.
Speaker 1: You could even grate a little bit if you have
Speaker 1: vanilla into it, just a scouch. Not very much. Even
Speaker 1: a nutmeg or something in there, again, not very much.
Speaker 1: You don't want to make it gray any but you
Speaker 1: can do a wonder one sub out on that, and
Speaker 1: it is the littles. I took a really lazy shortcut,
Speaker 1: I mean my black tea, and then I just did
Speaker 1: a tap of don't laugh at me, I'm very basic.
Speaker 1: And it was on hand pumpkin spot pie spice. It's
Speaker 1: the season. It has all of those yummy flavors, and
Speaker 1: that made a great like. I would also use that
Speaker 1: as a seasonal something. I would serve to guess when
Speaker 1: they come over that like if we don't want to drink,
Speaker 1: or if there's somebody that doesn't want to have a
Speaker 1: cocktail but wants to be in on the fun. Also
Speaker 1: freaking delicious. Moved, not stolen. I didn't steal from the Paloma.
Speaker 1: I just moved stuff around a little, just added some
Speaker 1: other things. It's fine. I hope if you make this
Speaker 1: one you love it as much as I do. It's
Speaker 1: criminal how much I love it. I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1: It's drink. I'm so delighted. It always feels like an
Speaker 1: accident when anything comes together that's utifully I know. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to do my balancing act, trying to figure out
Speaker 1: where to throttle back on ingredients and up some of
Speaker 1: them to make it all balance out. But it's still
Speaker 1: some guesswork. And this one just was like, I don't
Speaker 1: know the Just Judges were helping from wherever they are hiding.
Speaker 1: I think Delicious on the rooftop of was convened for
Speaker 1: if you are helped by the Just Judges in your life,
Speaker 1: and I hope you are. UM, I hope that's grand
Speaker 1: for you. I also hope that you have enjoyed spending
Speaker 1: this time with us and that you will continue to
Speaker 1: do so. Come back next week, We're gonna have more,
Speaker 1: more art heists and more delicious beverages. Criminalia is a
Speaker 1: production of Shonda land Audio in partnership with I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from Shonda land Audio, please visit the
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows,