Ghent Altarpiece Panels
The Ghent Altarpiece has had numerous brushes with destruction being that it is not only a beautiful piece but one that some consider to be one of the most influential works of art in history. On April 10th, 1934 the altarpiece was being displayed at the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium and the following day it was discovered that two of the panels were missing. The panels, known as the Just Judges and Saint John the Baptiste, were replaced with a note that said “Taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles.” The note was in reference to the fact that the painting had been moved to Germany during World War I but then returned to Belgium with the Treaty of Versailles.
An investigation immediately began but there were no leads until April 30th when the Bishop of Ghent received a ransom demand of 1 million francs for the return of the panel. Negotiations went back and forth as Belgium considered the piece a national treasure and wanted it returned. After the exchange of 11 letters, the thief returned one of the panels, Saint John the Baptiste, as a show of good faith.
On November 25th, 1934 Arsene Goedertier was on his deathbed and told his lawyer that he alone knew where the panel was. He directed his lawyer to open a drawer which contained one clue as to the whereabouts of the panel. The drawer contained a paper with the words “It rests in a place where neither I, nor anybody else, can take it away without arousing the attention of the public.” A month later the lawyer informed the police who concluded that Goedertier must have stolen the painting.
Ever since, Ghent police have been searching for the painting and to this day the case is assigned to an officer on the force. Over the years investigations have led to x-raying the cathedral from which it was stolen, the church offering police documents on the painting but refusing to offer any on the period from 1934 to 1945, Goedertier’s wife suggesting the panel never went far from the cathedral, and the discovery of an outline the exact size of the panel at a church near Goedertier’s home town. One detective even illegally exhumed the skull of Goedertier which was then stolen in order to hold a seance and ask Goedertier’s ghost about the painting.