One day in Ghent: the Ghent Altarpiece is being restored behind glass
At the MSK in Ghent, restorers work behind glass from Tuesday to Friday on seven panels of the Ghent Altarpiece. That is possible until 31 December 2026, with St Bavo’s Cathedral as the second stop.
At the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) in Ghent, restorers bend over seven panels of the Ghent Altarpiece behind glass, from Tuesday to Friday. The public can watch; photographing the studio is not allowed. The panels are the upper register of the inner panels: the three central panels with the enthroned Virgin Mary, God and John the Baptist, and on the wings Adam and Eve and the singing and music-making angels.
Since 2023 this work has been in the heart of the museum. The exhibition runs from 2 May 2023 to 31 December 2026. The restoration has been entrusted to the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK). The team works with scientists. They use, among other things, a macro-XRF scanner from the University of Antwerp and a 3D microscope from Ghent University. In this phase the fragile imitations of brocade in tin relief on the thrones and the paint layers on silver and gold demand particular attention.
It is the third and last phase. The first, on the outer shutters, was finished at the end of 2016. The second, on the lower register of the inner panels, at the end of 2019. That first phase brought a surprise: nearly 70 per cent of the total surface turned out to be overpainted. The altarpiece has been treated before. The predella was damaged in the sixteenth century by improper cleaning, the historian Marcus van Vaernewyck reported. Around 1550 Lanceloot Blondeel and Jan van Scorel carried out a restoration. In 2010 came an emergency intervention, supported by the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles.
The other part of the day belongs to St Bavo’s Cathedral. The cathedral itself is free to visit. For the visitor centre with the Ghent Altarpiece you pay 12.50 euros, 16 euros with an augmented-reality tour, and 8 euros for that tour for children under twelve. With the CityCard Gent you get 10 euros off. Seven panels in the cathedral have temporarily been replaced by high-resolution photographs. The cathedral is closed only on 1 January.
The Ghent Altarpiece was unveiled in 1432. It is by the brothers Van Eyck: Hubert painted the part with the Mystic Lamb but died before it was finished. His younger brother Jan completed it a few years after Hubert’s death. The work also shows the patron Joos Vijd and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. It is described as one of the most influential paintings ever made.
The cathedral stands on the site of a tenth-century church and a twelfth-century Romanesque church. The Gothic church was finished in 1559 and that year became the cathedral of the Diocese of Ghent. Climbing up is possible only during the Gentse Feesten. The rest of the year you look from the Belfry across the square. After dark Ghent is lit up, until midnight.
The restorers are not there at weekends, on public holidays and from 24 December to 2 January. The panels can always be seen. Guided tours are for a maximum of 15 adults and are booked through the museum’s reservation system. A Museumpas gives free entry to the MSK and more than 275 other Belgian museums.
Practical
Restoration at the MSK: Fernand Scribedreef 1, Ghent; runs until 31 December 2026
Restorers at work: Tuesday to Friday; not at weekends, on public holidays and from 24 December to 2 January
St Bavo’s Cathedral: Sint-Baafsplein, Ghent; free. Ghent Altarpiece in the visitor centre: 12.50 euros, booking online recommended
Augmented-reality tour: 16 euros with the Ghent Altarpiece, 8 euros for children under twelve
Info: mskgent.be, sintbaafskathedraal.be, visit.gent.be