The restoration of a famous 15th century painting revealed the “human face of a lamb” and generated a debate among art critics and, above all, a discussion, not always well informed, on social networks. Motivated, for sure, by known cases of failures in some restoration actions. In this operation, a lamb that is the center of the painting now appears with a more “humanized” face. But there was no mistake, guarantee the specialists and those responsible for the restoration: the painting is now closer to what it was in the original.
O Ghent Altarpiece, known as the “Adoration of the Holy Lamb”, completed by the brothers Hubert and Jan Van Eyck in 1432, has captivated the art world for centuries. It is considered a masterpiece of 12 panels, conceived from the mid-1420s to 1432. Placed in the Cathedral of St. Bavo, in Ghent, Belgium, it is seen as the first great oil painting to gain worldwide admiration.
Since 2012, a 2.2 million euro project to restore the work of art was underway in a museum in Belgium. In the second phase of the project, which ended last month, experts made some unexpected discoveries. They discovered that the central panel of the work, known as Adoration of the Mystical Lamb, had been painted, in overlap, in the 16th century. In which another artist altered the Lamb of God, a symbol of Jesus, represented in the center of the panel.
THE The restoration team stripped off the paint that had been placed on top, which revealed the lamb’s “intense look” and “big frontal eyes”, which makes it “more human”. The comparison between the two faces is what generates more discussion on social networks.
Hélène Dubois, leader of the restoration project, told the Art Newspaper that the original lamb had a “more intense interaction with the public”, with a “caricatural” representation of the lamb when all the painting of the time presents a naturalistic style that is even present in the painting to the point that “botanists can identify all plants gifts “. Therefore, he admits that it is necessary to continue studying the work to understand what led the Van Eyck to follow this option.
Koenraad Jonckheere, professor of Renaissance and Baroque art at the University of Ghent, points out that the overlapping painting may have been done to neutralize the “intense and humanized identification of the lamb and to show an expressionless animal”.
The Royal Institute of Cultural Heritage of Belgium, which led the restoration process, said the overlapping painting was gradually removed over three years to reveal the original.
In a statement, the institute defended the restoration campaign, pointing out that “several posts on social networks reflect a wrong understanding of the results”.
The Van Eyck brothers chose to “represent the Lamb of God with human eyes”. “The choice to remove excess paint was carefully considered and was fully supported by everyone involved”, guaranteed the institute. “The results of the restoration have been praised by experts, the public and the Cathedral of St. Bavo,” he concludes.
The painting is known as the Adoration of the Mystical Lamb, because of the central panel that shows pilgrims gathered to pay homage to the Lamb of God, a representation of Jesus Christ.
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