Ghent Altarpiece - Pradoe Church - Oswestry, Shropshire - Exact Replicas on Waymarking.com

A miniature replica of the famous Van Eyck tryptich in St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent (Belgium), in Pradoe church, Oswestry.

"This Arundel reproduction of the great Van Eyck (Hubert and his brother Jan) tryptich, painted for Ghent Cathedral, was originally at Redlands, Holmwood, the home near Dorking of my great-great-uncle Rohde Hawkins, the architect of this church. It then came into the possession of my great-uncle Maj. Gen. Lionel Kenyon, whose memorial tablet, along with the rest of his family, lies on the north wall of the nave. His son, Brig. L. F. R. Kenyon, considered it unsuitable for display in a private house and kindly gave it to Pradoe Church. Until 1982, the lower halves of Adam and Eve had been blocked over with small wooden panels. But when the tryptich needed repair following damp penetration I had the panels removed and thus restored the tryptich to its original state."

SOURCE - info panel

[It looks as though during the restoration someone accidentally swapped the lower 2 right hand panels around, as they look misplaced, and do not match the original - I wonder if anyone else has noticed?]

About the original -
"The Ghent Altarpiece (or the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Dutch: Het Lam Gods) is a very large and complex 15th-century polyptych altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. It was begun c. the mid-1420s and completed before 1432, and is attributed to the Early Netherlandish painters and brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck. The altarpiece is considered a masterpiece of European art and one of the world's treasures.

The panels are organised in two vertical registers, each with double sets of foldable wings containing inner and outer panel paintings. The upper register of the inner panels form the central Deësis of Christ the King, Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. They are immediately flanked in the next panels by angels playing music and, on the far outermost panels, the naked figures of Adam and Eve. The four lower-register panels are divided into two pairs; sculptural grisaille paintings of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist, and on the two outer panels, donor portraits of Joost Vijdt and his wife Lysbette Borluut. The central panel of the lower register shows a gathering of saints, sinners, clergy and soldiers attendant at an adoration of the Lamb of God. There are several groupings of figures, overseen by the dove of the Holy Spirit.[A] The altarpiece is one of the most renowned and important artworks in European history.

Art historians generally agree that the overall structure was designed by Hubert during or before the mid 1420s, and that the panels were painted by his younger brother Jan between 1430 and 1432. However while generations of art historians have attempted to attribute specific passage to either brother, no convincing separation has been established. The altarpiece was commissioned by the merchant and Ghent mayor Jodocus Vijd and his wife Lysbette as part of a larger project for the Saint Bavo Cathedral chapel. The altarpiece's installation was officially celebrated on 6 May 1432. It was much later moved for security reasons to the principal cathedral chapel, where it remains.

Indebted to the International Gothic as well as Byzantine and Romanic traditions, the altarpiece represented a significant advancement in western art, in which the idealisation of the medieval tradition gives way to an exacting observation of nature and human representation. A now lost inscription on the frame stated that Hubert van Eyck maior quo nemo repertus (greater than anyone) started the altarpiece, but that Jan van Eyck—calling himself arte secundus (second best in the art)—completed it in 1432. The original, very ornate carved outer frame and surround, presumably harmonizing with the painted tracery, was destroyed during the Reformation; it may have included clockwork mechanisms for moving the shutters and even playing music."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Where is original located?: St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium Where is this replica located?: Pradoe church, Oswestry Who created the original?: Hubert and Jan van Eyck Internet Link about Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1432

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