Traveling around the world｜After nine years of renovation, the world’s first oil painting reappears in the small city of Ghent

Travel destination: Ghent

Wandering Highlights: Van Eyck

From the beginning of the 15th century to the end of the 17th century, Flanders has always been one of the birthplaces of European art, and famous artists such as Rubens, Bruegel and Van Eyck were born. The “Van Eyck Theme Year”, which was forced to stop due to the epidemic last year, will continue to be held this year in the small medieval city of Ghent in Belgium. Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck became the “protagonists”, and one of the most famous works of the Van Eyck brothers “The Ghent Altarpiece” (also known as “The Adoration of the Mysterious Lamb”) is also elaborate After restoration, return to St. Buffon’s Cathedral.

This work was created by the Van Eyck brothers in 1432, and is known as the world’s first real oil painting. As a symbol of the Flemish Primitive School in the 15th century, it opened a new era of European painting. After more than 500 years, the “Ghent Altarpiece” has shown many signs of damage. In recent years, the maintenance of the “Ghent Altarpiece” has been carried out in an orderly manner at the Ghent Art Museum. The painting restoration room in the museum has attracted the attention of tourists from all over the world. Not long ago, the Tourism Bureau of Flanders, Belgium invited Professor Duan Yiqing, the deputy director of the Oil Painting Department of the School of Art and Design of Hebei Normal University, to introduce the era background and image strategy of “The Ghent Altarpiece”, and talked about the painting Many anecdotes about the most stolen world famous paintings.

According to reports, the repair work of “The Ghent Altarpiece” began in 2012. The difficulty of the repair has exceeded the expectations of the experts. They found that there are many repaints on the painting, especially the repaint in 1550, which obscured Van Eyre. Gram 90% of the original. The experts carefully removed the repainted coating and presented the original appearance of the “Ghent Altarpiece”.

After the meticulous restoration of St. Buffon’s Cathedral, the “Ghent Altarpiece” was moved to a more spacious chapel. The tailor-made glass showcase provided the best temperature, humidity and other physical conditions for the famous painting. In the basement of St. Buffon’s Cathedral, visitors can better understand the history of this masterpiece with the aid of augmented reality technology. In addition, during the Van Eyck theme year, Ghent also offers experiences in visual arts, theater, design, food, music, and themed city tour routes.

Beijing News reporter Qu Xiaoyi

Editor Li Zheng proofreads Zhao Lin

Photo courtesy of Flanders Tourism, Belgium