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Jan van Eyck, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Ghent Altarpiece), 1432
On an altar in a green meadow stands the Lamb, and its blood runs into a chalice. Angels kneel around it. From all four sides groups of people approach across the grass: prophets and apostles, popes and hermits, and women with palms in their hands.
This is the lower central panel of the Ghent Altarpiece, completed in 1432. An inscription on the frame says that Hubert van Eyck began the work and his brother Jan finished it. The meadow is painted flower by flower; botanists have identified dozens of species.
The Lamb stands upright and looks at us. Angels hold the cross, the column and the other instruments of the Passion.
In the foreground the fountain of life: “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal” (Revelation 22:1).
The holy virgins come out of the wood with palms, the sign of the martyrs.
