236
It was Ghent’s native son, Charles V, who had financed the overpainting of at
least 40% of the panels. This was a man who had inherited the Holy Roman Emperor
at the age of 16, fought multiple wars for four decades, and then, exhausted, ultimately abdicated his throne in 1556, retiring to a monastery in Yuste in the Spanish
autonomous community of Extremadura. He died 2 years later, aged 58, clutching a
cross. Throughout his entire life he had been a faithful Catholic, to the extent that he
endeavored, in demanding certain overpainting, that the lamb not be too easily construed as a graven image by the Protestants with whom he was forever in ideological
combat. He had good reason to fear his enemies. At one point during the height of
the Reformation, Protestant interlopers raided the Cathedral of St. Bavo and
destroyed part of the frame holding the altarpiece’s panels (Fig. 25.3).
The Lamb dominates the final book of the New Testament, Revelation, particularly the final chapters 14–22, wherein atop Mount Sion the Lamb, with 144,000
disciples, sings untranslatable praise for the creator, “a new song before the
throne…”
13
John the Baptist 1:29, “Ecce agnus Dei, Behold the Lamb of God”; and
from Isaiah 53:7, “he is like a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (Fig. 25.4). Much
has been divined and construed from this seeming contradiction.
14
But there is no
question that originally, “Each day Mass was to be celebrated before it in honor of
God, the Virgin Mary and all the saints… Christ’s offering of His own blood is
evoked by the Lamb and the instruments of the Passion held by the angels….”
15
13 The Holy Bible King James Version, Revelation 14:1, The Christian Science Publishing Society,
Boston, Massachusetts, n.d., p. 1537.
14 See, for example, http://www.w1vtp.com/the1.htm, Accessed April 28, 2019.
15 See Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, by Elisabeth Dhanens, Alpine Fine Arts Collection, LTD,
New York, 1980, pp. 91, 97; see also Jan Van Eyck—The Play of Realism, by Craig Harbison,
Fig. 25.2 A Lamb in Central England. (Photo © M.C. Tobias)
25 Paradox of the Lamb
It was Ghent’s native son, Charles V, who had financed the overpainting of at
least 40% of the panels. This was a man who had inherited the Holy Roman Emperor
at the age of 16, fought multiple wars for four decades, and then, exhausted, ultimately abdicated his throne in 1556, retiring to a monastery in Yuste in the Spanish
autonomous community of Extremadura. He died 2 years later, aged 58, clutching a
cross. Throughout his entire life he had been a faithful Catholic, to the extent that he
endeavored, in demanding certain overpainting, that the lamb not be too easily construed as a graven image by the Protestants with whom he was forever in ideological
combat. He had good reason to fear his enemies. At one point during the height of
the Reformation, Protestant interlopers raided the Cathedral of St. Bavo and
destroyed part of the frame holding the altarpiece’s panels (Fig. 25.3).
The Lamb dominates the final book of the New Testament, Revelation, particularly the final chapters 14–22, wherein atop Mount Sion the Lamb, with 144,000
disciples, sings untranslatable praise for the creator, “a new song before the
throne…”
13
John the Baptist 1:29, “Ecce agnus Dei, Behold the Lamb of God”; and
from Isaiah 53:7, “he is like a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (Fig. 25.4). Much
has been divined and construed from this seeming contradiction.
14
But there is no
question that originally, “Each day Mass was to be celebrated before it in honor of
God, the Virgin Mary and all the saints… Christ’s offering of His own blood is
evoked by the Lamb and the instruments of the Passion held by the angels….”
15
13 The Holy Bible King James Version, Revelation 14:1, The Christian Science Publishing Society,
Boston, Massachusetts, n.d., p. 1537.
14 See, for example, http://www.w1vtp.com/the1.htm, Accessed April 28, 2019.
15 See Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, by Elisabeth Dhanens, Alpine Fine Arts Collection, LTD,
New York, 1980, pp. 91, 97; see also Jan Van Eyck—The Play of Realism, by Craig Harbison,
Fig. 25.2 A Lamb in Central England. (Photo © M.C. Tobias)
25 Paradox of the Lamb