29 Jan 2020
If you hadn’t heard yet, the theme of the year in our beautiful Ghent is…‘OMG! Van Eyck was here!’ Jan Van Eyck, who was already a renowned painter back in the 15th century, is eternally linked to Ghent through the Ghent Altarpiece, one of his most famous works, preserved today in St. Bavo’s Cathedral just 100 m from our hotel.
In 2020 the city is paying tribute to the work of Van Eyck and his contemporaries. Not much is known for certain about his life, nor have many of his paintings survived: only about twenty pieces have confidently been attributed to the Flemish artist.
This year, the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) is hosting the biggest Van Eyck exhibition ever, with nine of his artworks, several pieces from his studio and about one hundred masterpieces from the late Middle Ages travelling to Ghent. Naturally, the eight restored panels of ‘The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’ will also be part of the exhibition.
This masterpiece by the Van Eyck brothers has seen some things since it was finished by Jan in 1432: over six centuries it was the object of thirteen crimes and seven thefts, and the panel of the Just Judges (Rechtvaardige Rechters) is still missing. It may be considered a small miracle that this much of the work remained intact at all!
Jan himself may well have been the most famous European painter of his day. He served as court painter to Philip the Good and played a decisive role in the development of the oil painting technique.
We won’t reveal too much about him just yet though…there is a lot more to be discovered, and the best way to do that is to visit Ghent yourself ;-).
As always, our Flandria Hotel is right around the corner - so to join in the celebrations, we have a special offer for our guests: anyone who makes a reservation at our hotel for 2 or more nights in February, gets a 50% discount on the last night of their stay!
Check the availability on our website, use the discount code VANEYCK20 when making the reservation, and let the fun begin!
Sources & Infos
Toerisme Vlaanderen
MSK Gent
N. Charney , Stealing the Mystic Lamb, x-1
Picture credits: Stad Gent, MSK Gent, Uit in Vlaanderen.
