The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb

St Nicholas' Church Korenmarkt, 9000 Ghent

June 26th, 2020–November 7th 2021

This project reimagines Jan van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, commonly known as The Ghent Altarpiece, through robotics, moving images and music. When unveiled in 1432, the altarpiece would have been the IMAX cinema of its day: a monumental spectacle whose vast, gate-like panels opened to reveal an astonishing vision of heaven, rendered with unprecedented realism. Yet behind this sublime vision lies a turbulent and often sordid history. Considered the most stolen artwork of all time, the altarpiece has been burned, smuggled, held hostage, traded as stolen property and hidden deep within Austrian salt mines. Its sacred imagery bears the dirty fingerprints of centuries of human conflict, greed and obsession. Using large robotic arms supplied by ABB Robotics and 96-inch LCD screens, the project reconstructs the altarpiece’s history disoplayed on monumental moving panels, transforming them into a kinetic installation set to the music of Bach, Tchaikovsky and Arvo Pärt.