Jan van Eyck's the Ghent Altarpiece - Term Paper Example

Analysis of Jan van Eyck's the Ghent Altarpiece, 1432 Honour and Fleming argue that Ghent Altarpiece by Jan and Hubert van Eyck ranks among Europe's most significant piece of art (475). Produced in 1432, this great piece of artwork is housed in Belgium at Saint Bavo Cathedral where it is safely guarded to prevent the large altarpiece from being stolen or destroyed. This important artwork has faced many challenges, including being stolen by thieves. In fact, history shows that the altarpiece has been stolen and destroyed a number of times by those opposed to its productions. For instance, the Protestants were very much opposed to the artwork since they considered it an idol for the Catholic based on its religious message. Despite the challenges that the altarpiece have faced since its production, artists agree that the altarpiece is among the greatest piece of work ever produced in Europe. This document will analyze Jan and Hubert van Eyck's artwork in light of its significance. The Ghent Altarpiece (shown in figure 1) is perhaps the greatest painting ever produced that is based on the religious theme. The entire message conveyed by the masterpiece revolves around the life of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, the message passed across in the artwork is very significant to Christians since it teaches about Jesus Christ and the life Jesus lived on earth before being crucified and ascended into heaven. The first thing that is shown in the painting at the bottom of the artwork is a panel showing a lamb standing on the altar (Honour and Fleming 475). The lamb here has a very significant meaning as far as Christianity and the Biblical teachings are concerned. The general interpretation that can be gathered from the altarpiece is that the lamb signifies Jesus Christ. This can be derived from the Gospel of John where Jesus consistently referred to himself as the Lamb of God. Fig. 1: The Ghent Altarpiece, 1432 Courtesy of metmuseum.org From a closer look, it can be seen that the lamb is resting on the altar ready to be sacrificed. The angels and everyone in the altarpiece are praying to God with some knelt down while others are reading the bible (Sider 72). Van Eyck brought out the aspect of the lamb being sacrificed to remind people of how Christ sacrificed his life for the sins of mankind. According to the Biblical teachings, Jesus died to save people from their sins. Therefore, to make the audience relate with his masterpiece, van Eyck used the lamb being sacrificed to symbolize how Jesus died for the sins of people. Therefore, to Christians, the depiction of the lamb is very significant since it acts as a reminder of how Jesus Christ suffered on the world just to deliver people from their sins. Therefore, it can be deduced that the Protestants who were opposed to the altarpiece somehow misinterpreted it as an idol, yet the artwork only acted as a reminder of the challenges that Jesus went through to save people from their sins. Another significant aspect of the oil painting is the blood of the lamb, which is flowing into the chalice. Van Eyck painted the flowing of the lamb's blood to signify the Christ's Eucharistic sacrifice. According to the Jesus, offered a number of sacrament Communions. Therefore, in the painting, Van Eyck was keen on reminding the Christians of the Christ's sacramental Communion by showing the miraculous turning of wine into the Blood of Jesus Christ (Jones par. 3). In other words, the painting is significant since it reminds the audience of some of the miracles that Jesus did top show that he was indeed the chosen son of God. Another significant aspect of the artwork is the fountain, which is shown just below the altar. The fountain here signifies eternal life, which flows because of Christ's sacrifice for the sake of mankind (Sider 72). According to the Bible, Christ came to earth to save mankind from their sins. The Bible teaches that because God loved the world, He decided to send Jesus from heaven so that those who believe in Him could be saved from their sins. Therefore, in order for the Christians to understand the message better and clear, Van Eyck decided to depict the message by fountain of eternal life. The bible is also another significant aspect clearly depicted in the painting. A couple of people in the picture are holding their Bibles open. In fact, the person on the immediate left appears to read a verse in the bible to the rest of the congregants (Honour and Fleming 475). Therefore, according to the picture, the bible is portrayed as a Holy book that any Christian who wants to draw closer to God must read. This is because the bible teaches about the ways of God and what Christians can do to overcome the temptation in the world. In other words, the picture appears to signify that any Christian, who believes in Jesus, should have a Bible. Van Eyck also painted flower petals and blades of grass in a very naturalistic way. In fact, the manner in which Van Eyck clearly shows that he was not only a great oil painter, but also a realist. The grass blades and the flower petals are so natural that one can hardly tell that they are painted (Jones par. 4). In fact, anyone who fails to look at the flowers petals and grass blades can confuse pictures taken from a camera. However, the grass blades and petal flowers are significant in the painting in the sense that they show that the painter liked nature and the importance of the preservation of nature. In fact, the grass and the flower petals make the environment look very lovely. The other significant piece in the painting is the portrayal of the clergy, righteous judges, martyrs hermits, the choir and the Knights of Christ. The altarpiece created by Van Eyck is in the form of a puzzle-box. However, the most amazing this is that inside it lays saints, the choir, Knights of Christ, martyrs, the clergy, hermits and the righteous judges all of whom appear to be in a pilgrimage paying homage to the Christ, represented by the lamb (Smarthistory, Art History at Khan Academy). The fact that all these people have a pilgrimage to the lamb shows the extent to which the sacrificial lamb is to Christians. As stated earlier, the lamb signifies Christ, who died to save mankind from their sins. Additionally, the painting is significant in the sense that it depicts Mary and John the Baptist who is standing on either side of the altar (Sider 73). The figure has the right hand raised in blessing. The portrayal of the Mary in the picture is significant since it reminds the audience of the mother of Christ Jesus. John the Baptist, however, is significant in the picture since he was the one who baptized Jesus Christ. In conclusion, the analysis clearly shows that Van Eyck's altarpiece was very significant to the Christians. This is because the painting was all about redemptions. In other words, the painting focused mainly on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sake of mankind. For instance, the sacrifice of the lamb on the altar signifies the fact that Jesus Christ, who referred to himself as the Lamb of God, die in order to save man from their sins. Therefore, as much as there was a lot of controversy about the painting, particularly from the Protestants, analysis shows that there was nothing bad with the painting. Certainly, the altarpiece is the most significant painting work ever done in Europe. Works Cited Honour, Hugh and John Fleming. A World History of Art. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2005. Print. Jones, Susan. "The Ghent Altarpiece". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Web. 27 November 2014 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ghnt/hd_ghnt.htm Sider, Sandra. Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe. Oxford, OX: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print. Smarthistory, Art History at Khan Academy. Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece (open), 1432 (2013). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVhwinCiELI Read More