The Ghent Altarpiece: Chasing the Lost 'Just Judges' Panel

was just so much more flexible. It was revolutionary to many artists, and everyone wanted a portrait or maybe a painting depicting a story from classical mythology as its subject, or among the more affluent crowd, maybe a devotional work for a chapel they were sponsoring, work such as the now famous Against Altarpiece, which we'll be talking about in this episode. A piece at in spite of its adventurous life, is still with us today. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria

Tremarque and I'm Holly Fry. The search for the stolen Ghent alter Piece near the end of the Second World War is a major point of Filmed The Monument's Men, and yes, we are going to touch on that event later, but that's not the only time this piece has been stolen and recovered or vandalized. In fact, part of it remains missing today, and that's going to be more of

our focus. The Ghent alter Piece, also known as Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, was commissioned by Yos Vade, a wealthy merchant who is recorded as either Alderman or deputy Burgomaster of Ghent, Belgium, and his wife lizbet Burlut, for the Vade chapel in the Church of St. John the Baptist. Today this is St. Babo Cathedral in Ghent. The work

was probably commissioned in the mid fourteen twenties. We're not sure about that, but what we do know is that it was completed and ready for viewing in fourteen thirty two. It is considered the most famous Flemish painting from the Renaissance period, and as we're about to get into it's kind of a miracle that it has made it this far through history during the time of the Renaissance, so

we're talking fourteenth century into seventeenth century Ish. A large altar piece such as this one, how do unique status as a commission These were works typically produced by artists with a capital A a commissioned altarpiece would when installed the A if not the focal point inside a chapel. The Gatt alterpiece is a politic type, which means it has multiple panels that are designed to be opened and

closed by folding hinged side panels. So when it's open, the alter piece measures roughly eleven and a half by fifteen feet or that's three and a half by four and a half meters, and with its shutters closed it measures about eleven and a half by seven and a half feet or three and a half by two meters. So what we're talking about here is big. This is

a large piece of artwork. Consider a standard garage door and a standard suburb in the United States is seven and north maybe eight feet high to compare, so the work is tall, tall enough to include life size nudes. The piece is composed of twelve framed oak panels, eight of which are painted on both sides using oil paints to visually tell Christian biblical stories. The overarching theme here

centers around the redemption of humanity. The lower center panel of this piece is by far the largest of the panels, and it's the panel depicting the story that gives the altar piece its name. It shows a crowd worshiping a lamb, which of course symbolizes Jesus Christ and his sacrifice in the crucifixion story. Above the lamb is a dove symbolizing

the Holy Spirit. Among all the panels there are depictions of Christ, the Virgin Mary, Adam and Eve, saints, angels, prophets, a curiously humanoid sheep which has made art history students chuckle throughout the years. There are some other Biblical figures as well, and they include stories like the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary as well as the passion of Christ. Yos and his wife appear on the back panels of

the piece. On the far left bottom panel you'll find the kneeling figure of Yos and the far right has the kneeling figure of Lizbet. So we've got a work of art, added the couple who commissioned it. So now let's talk about a guy named Yon van Eyke, the artist who painted it. Yon Vnik is the most famous member of a family of painters from the town of Messak in the Diocese of Liege in the Holy Roman Empire.

This area is now Belgium. He was born in give or take a year or two here, it's a little fuzzy along that timeline, and had three siblings, one sister, Margareta and two brothers, Hubert and Lambert. As an adult, Yon primarily lived and worked in the city of Bruges and is in Bruge, where he painted what many consider his greatest achievement, this Ghent altarpiece. Some artists inspire you, said the New York Times of a Jan Vanic retrospective

in nak They continued, leaves you stupefied. Jan painted religious commissions and portraits of Burgundian courtiers, nobles, churchmen, and merchants. In October of fourteen twenty two, Jon cannot really hide from the historical record because at that point he was appointed Valet de chambre, the court painter of John of Bavaria account of Hinup Holland, and that was a position

he held until the count's death in fourteen. He then took a prestigious appointment with Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, also as court painter. Some historians believe that some of his freak went travels for the Burgundian court were actually diplomatic missions that would have been uncommon for a court painter to do. Other historians believe that those so called diplomatic missions, yeah, that should have air quotes, and instead they theorized that he likely was traveling as a spy

for the Duke. But spying or no spying, the travel that he did broadened his horizons, and in turn, what he saw on those travels often became content in his art. Jan Vanak was gifted with oil paints and experimented with new textures, light, and spatial effects of nature. He filled his paintings with religious symbols and often disguised them as

everyday objects, such as the sun. The realism of his pieces was admired by Italian humanist Syriachis Dancona, who observed that vanaks art seemed to have been produced quote, not by the artifice of human hands, but by all bearing nature herself. Modern day American art historian, novelist and founder of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, Noah Charney writes in his book Stealing the Mystic Lamb quote, until the altarpiece was painted, only portrait managers and illuminated

manuscripts contained such detail. Nothing like this intricacy had ever been seen before on such a grand scale by artists or admirers. Painter and printmaker Albrecht Dura praised John regarding the altarpiece during a visit to gain describing the work as quote a stupendous piece of religious art and scooching a little bit up the historical timeline to fifteen sixty two Flemish. Another Landish historian, Marcus van Wernwick, referred to

Jan as the creator of another Landish Renaissance masterpiece. But there's actually a semi secret about the gain To alterpiece. It wasn't painted by Jan van Ike. Well it was, and it wasn't tomorr Uh. It is a work that seems to have been started by Hubert van Eyck and completed after his death by his younger brother Yawn. This is a really big deal, if you can imagine. In the art world, up until just a few years ago, the idea that Hubert was a contributing artist on the

piece was questionable. American medieval art historian Herbert Kessler has said about Hubert quote whether this Hubert van Eyke was related to Jan and why in the sixteenth century he was credited with the major sheriff against altar piece are questions that remain unanswered, but information today is changing rapidly and recently too. Hubert died in fourteen so well before the altarpiece was completed, and though there are no other works of art attributed to him, at least not yet.

When a restoration and analysis of the altarpiece began, scholars identified an elaborate underlying painting that they now attribute to the elder van Ike. It's believed that Hubert painted the sky, a hilly landscape, some simple cities on the horizon, and a meadow. Yon's hand, though is recognizable. He it's clear, painted over that landscape and added a few recognizable motifs to those cities on the horizon, including the tower of Utrecht Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady in Bruges.

Some of the figures in the work appear to have been painted by Hubert and left untouched by Jan, while others are unmistakably done by Jan's hand. In the center of the altarpiece, Hubert had painted a natural spring, which Yon transformed into the fountain of life, says Great Stay, art restorer and art historian at the Royal Institute for

Cultural Heritage in Brussels. Quote, we actually think that Hubert made the underdrawing, had already started working on it in paint, but that he had to stop work at a certain point. Yawn then finished it off. Hubert's role in the painting has always been, and continues to be, something of a mystery.

In eighteen twenty three, which puts us roughly four hundred years after the piece was created, a Latin quatrain was found under over paint on the frame of the piece, stating quote, the painter Hubert van I, a greater man was never found, started this work. His brother Yahn, second in art, completed this arduous task at the request of yas faith. He invites you on the sixth of May

with this first behold what was done. This message from the Van Eyed brothers is inscribed in Latin on the lower frames of their altarpiece and later verified by the Royal Institute as original. So really we are on the historical timeline kind of smack in the middle of this Hubert controversy. Just recently restorers again confirmed with the quatrain inscription is original to the work. According to the Royal Institute,

this research. Quote brings clarity to an old enigma and opens the door to a new chapter in the study of the Flemish primitives the search for other paintings by Hubert van Night. When the Altar Piece was unveiled on May sixty two, the Bishop of Ghent, Lord Vaneka, was quoted as saying, quote, religious and Christian heritage is unlocked here in a unique way. This is not only important for the sake of the past, but even more so for today and tomorrow. He continued, quote, it confronts us

with humans eternal quest for mystery. I am convinced that many people will find personal residents here. We're going to take a break right now for a word from our sponsor, and when we return, we will talk about how our historians argue that the Altar Piece is the first great oil painting, and we'll also talk about how many brush

has it's had with danger. Welcome back to Criminalia. It was in the mid sixteenth century when life for the Altarpiece became fraught with danger, and that piece has never been the same literally and figuratively ever since Napoleon once stole several of its panels. The Nazis they took the whole thing. The Ghent Altarpiece has been the victim of more than a dozen crimes since its installation, as well as several fafts. It's quote arguably the single most important

painting ever made. It's the first great oil painting. It influenced oil paintings for centuries to come. That's a quote from art historian Noah Charney, who continues saying it's the first great panel painting of the Renaissance, a forerunner to artistic realism. The monumentality of it and the complexity of it fascinated people from the moment it was painted. During the first century of its existence, things are pretty quiet

for the altar piece. It wasn't first threatened with acts of destruction until the sixteenth century, when the Protestant Reformation swept through Europe and any ornate art in churches was regarded as superfluous and therefore destroyed. In fifteen sixty six, the work was dismantled into its component panels and stored in the church's tower to protect it from rioters who were breaking into churches to smash art and objects that they considered to be an example of Catholic excess and

idolatry for the next eighteen years. It's reported that the piece was protected in a fortified room in the town hall in Ghent. And now jumping ahead on the vandalism and theft timeline to see Emperor Joseph the two of the Holy him An Empire, which at that time encompassed Belgium, demanded censure of the panels depicting naked Adam and Eve in the Story of the Garden of Eden. The panels were replaced with replicas that had one edition. They depicted

the pair wearing bear skins. By the time the piece ended up in Paris after the French Revolution, the bear skins were gone. Though Paris, you might be asking, when did we go to Paris? French soldiers stole four of the panels from the cathedral and had transported them by horse drawn cart to exhibit at Napoleon's new museum in Paris, the Loup. The panels were not returned again until eighteen fifteen, when Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington.

And there's a name we've mentioned on this show in a few different seasons who returned the piece to Saint Babo's Cathedral. The next problem wasn't a theft, and it wasn't vandalism. It was the clergy. Shortly after the return of the altar piece, a local vicar pawned six of the paintings wing panels. Those are those side panels we talked about earlier to a local art dealer named Lambert

new and Heys for three thousand guilders. They were eventually returned following public outrage in Ghent, but the legend of the altar piece just keeps rolling. In eighteen twenty two, fire broke out in the cathedral and the piece narrowly escaped. Some tales of the legend of the altar piece suggests that during the nineteenth century some panels also legally found their way into the hands of the King of Prussia

Frederick William the Third and likely illegally obtained. Some panels were also in the possession of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. There are also some more tenuous tales about this piece, such as this one from eighteen sixty one, where it's suggested the State of Belgium convinced the church administration of St. Babo's Cathedral to sell them the original panels featuring the naked Adam and Eve for fifty thousand Belgian Franks, with the intent that the panels were to

be exhibited at the National Museum in Brussels. Sure maybe, really, where things get hairy for this piece. It doesn't come down to which museum the work is being exhibited in or when the hairiness of this happens when the world goes to war. When Germany invaded Belgium in nineteen fourteen during the First World War, the Belgian government feared the confiscation of the gent altarpiece. Kennan Gabriel vanden Gein of St. Babo's Cathedral was assigned to oversee the protection of this

important artwork. With no time to get the altar piece out of the country, the story goes that the Cannon came up with a quick solution. He requested two Belgian ministers drop a false letter stating that the altar piece was to be transported to England for safekeeping during the war, and if the Germans came to collect it, they would

be given that letter. And then Vandergame arranged for the secret transportation of the work in Wooden crates to two Ghentish homes, where legend says the panels were bricked into walls and hidden under floorboards for their safety. Vandergaid's trick worked, but many locals feared reprisal by the Germans if they

ever discovered the Ghent altarpiece was missing. After the war, in nineteen nineteen, article to forty seven of the Treaty of Versailles between Germany and the Allied Powers stated quote Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium through the Reparations Commission within six months of the coming into force of the present treaty in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute too great artistic works, and the first named work was the

panels of the Mystic Lamb. All panels that had been in Germany were returned again in nineteen and some reports suggest there had been damaged. That the side panels from the altar piece that had been exhibited in Berlin had been cut in alf vertically in an effort to exhibit both sides of the pieces at the same time. The panels were delivered again on a train decorated with the Belgian flag, and the procession has been described as a

wounded war hero returning home. The piece was met by large crowds in every city where the train passed through. Church fells chimed and the national anthem of Belgium played, and for a moment, the Ghent altar Piece was intact just a moment, though, because the altar pieces biggest adventure

happened on the morning of April eleven four. That morning, a church steward named Oscar von Buchot began preparing for morning service, but when he arrived, he was surprised to find that one parishioner had already made her way inside the church, which led him to wonder why had the church not been locked, and that is when he realized that something bigger was afoot The steward ran off to alert Kennon van Degen, who then in turn alerted the police.

As one does, church authorities panicked and rushed into the cathedral sacristy, where the church's jewels and articles of worship were kept, and it seemed everything was in place, but upon closer look they realized that thieves had stolen two panels of the gent altarpiece, one a depiction of St. John the Baptist and another depicting an equestrian scene known

as the Just Judges. Some historians report that there was a note written in French stating quote taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, and that had been left on the frame. Ghent Police Commissioner Antoine Lesterburg came to the scene for the initial investigation, but frankly, that investigation was a joke. The police didn't clear the gathering crowd out of the chapel, they didn't seal off the crime scene.

In fact, they didn't try to photograph the crime scene or look for fingerprints or footprints or any kind of clues. There been another theft earlier that same night at a cheese shop across the street, and the commissioner had made that investigation their priority. Guda is my priority. Listen I understand. I was like, oh, I get it. It's right across the street. He can watch both. She's is very important.

Nineteen days after this theft, the Bishop of Ghent and Ray Joseph Copet received the first of thirteen ransom notes, all signed with the letters d U A. The first, delivered in a green envelope, demanded one million Belgian franks. The note read quote it is our privilege to inform you that we possessed the two paintings by Van Knight, which were stolen from the cathedral of your city. We feel that it is better not to explain to you

by what dramatic events we now possessed these pearls. It happened in so incoherent a manner that the current location of the two pieces is known only to one of us. This fact is the only thing that should concern you because of its terrifying implications. The ransom request was cash with no traceable serial numbers, wrapped in brown paper and

sealed with the insignia of the diocese. We understand the note read quote that the demanded amount is high, but a million can be regained, whereas a van Nyke can never be painted again. If the church refused to pay the ransom, the thieves promised to destroy those panels. If he agreed with the deal, the bishop was asked to publish an ad in the classified section of the local newspaper, La damne U that means the Latest Hour, stating the following quote, d u A in agreement with the authorities,

we accept your propositions totally. Crown Prosecutor that's a state prosecutor. Franz Daheim stepped in to lead the ransom negotiations and his stance was ah, he did not plan on giving the thieves a dime. The Belgian government felt the same. Dheim advised the bishop to place a classified ad, telling

the Ransomers instead that their proposition was quote exaggerated. There was some back and forth on this, and we're not sure what was said until May, when the bishop received a third note from the Ransomers stating quote, we have read your answer in the paper of May and take full note of your obligations, observe them conscientiously, and we will preserve ours as a show of good faith. They had included a receipt for luggage storage in the Brussels

North station. At station when authorities claimed that receipt, the storage clerk handed over a large flat package wrapped in black wax paper, which turned out to be the panel of Saint John the Baptist. No way right, I mean it. Actually they came through on that. The clerk recalled. The person who had delivered the package was a man about fifty years old who had appointed Beard police. They'll remained baffled about the identity of the thieves as well as

the location of the remaining missing painting. The ransom story going forward from here kind of varies a little bit depending on who tells it, but it generally goes like this. An anonymous man sat inside the confessional booth at the Church of Saint Laurentius in Antwerp, Belgium, and confessed to nothing whatsoever. The man was there to talk to the priest, Father Henri may la Pass, and asked him a favor.

A prominent Belgium family he said, needed special letters delivered in secret, and would it be possible for the church to help with the delivery. The priest agreed to help, and though he may not have realized it, he had just agreed to be the person to hand over the ransom money for the just judge's payamel. On June one, another letter arrived at the bishop's residence explaining how the

priest would be part of the ransom plan. Quote, we ask you to personally hand over the package that contains our commission to Father may Lepas San Laurentius Church, Antwerp. You could let him know that it concerns a restitution of papers and letters involving the honor of one of the most dignified families. Inside this letter was a vertically torn page from a newspaper that was to be used as a sort of key for identification and for the transaction.

Dehim went along with this ransom plan, despite the fact that earlier we said he didn't want anything to do with it. He wrapped money in brown paper and stamped it with the seal following the demands. He also gave Father may Lepass the vertical strip of newspaper, and the priest did the deed. On June fourteenth, a taxi driver drove up to the rectory, stating he was there to pick up a parcel. The men verified each other with the torn newspaper and the some money was given to

the driver, who then drove away. But the package that Daheim had prepared didn't actually contain the requested amount of one million Belgian francs. The priest unknowingly delivered only twenty five thousand Belgian francs, and that's when the bishop began receiving a series of indignant letters from an incensed ransomer, who was furious about the fact that the promised one million Belgian francs had not been received of the negotiations.

They wrote, quote, it is incomprehensible. We risked our lives to come into possession of these two jewels, and we keep thinking that what we ask is not excessive or impossible to realize. So basically, they were angry that they went through all the troubles to steal art and for what nothing then getting nothing. Well, we've seen the word difficult used to describe communication between the parties. After this happened, the final note from the perpetrators arrived on October one.

I mean I stole your stuff. I took a lot of risk. You really owe me, you really should pay me. It's quite a stance, it was, I think so. But then after six weeks of silence, something unexpected happened. On November, fifty seven year old Arsin god d'artier, a stout stockbroker with a curly waxed mustache, collapsed shortly after giving a speech at a meeting of the local chapter of the

Catholic political Party in Dendermond, Belgium. Our Sin was the owner of a small bank office in Veteran and was generally considered to be a respectable and well healed man, but on his deathbed, he summoned George da Vos, his lawyer, and whispered to him quote, I alone know where the mystic lamb is. The information is in the drawer on the right of my writing table, in an envelope marked mutu Alite. His lawyer followed instructions. He drove to our

Sins home. It was only about eight miles outside of Ghent, and inside he headed towards the study. At the desk, he picked up a folder labeled Mutualite, and within he found copies of the thirteen ransom notes that had been sent to Bishop Copieter. There was also a final unsent note containing a semi clue about the stolen panels whereabouts, stating quote, I am the only one in this world

who knows the places where the just judges rest. It rests in a place where neither I nor anybody else can take it away without arousing the attention of the public. I mean that sure narrows things down a whole bunch. Yeah, it's somewhere in public. DeVos failed to alert authorities about

our sens deathbed confession for a month. Instead, he met with four legal colleagues, a district attorney to Court of Appeals, Presidents and Franz d Him, the Crown prosecutor who you'll recognize from earlier in the ransom negotiations, to begin their own investigation. The reason for excluding authorities remains a mystery, but ultimately the lot of lawyers didn't turn up much at all. Our Son had a fake passport under the name Van Dam and they also found the typewriter assumed

to have been used to type the ransom notes. Instead of securing the typewriter as evidence, the men instead used it to write their reports. They found that days after the initial heist, our Son had opened a new bank account and deposited ten thousand Belgian francs. They also discovered a key, which they eventually figured out unlocked the roof loft of St. Babo's Cathedral. Police neglected to interview Divaz. They also failed to report that confession to the diocese

for another four months. Authorities all so failed to interview a woman who told local newspapers that she had seen lights flickering inside the chapel on the night of the theft. There is so much they did not do. They never examined the ransom letters. They never bothered to talk to the men who were with our Sin the day he died.

Authorities did, however, eventually get around to interviewing our Sin's wife, and she admitted that her husband had made some strange comments about the gent altarpiece after the panel heist had happened, sharing that he once told her quote, if I had to go looking for the panel, I would look on the outside of St. Babo. I wouldn't look so far. If they let me search for it, I'd stay in

the vicinity of the cathedral. On another occasion, she stated that she had heard him say something about the painting being moved but not stolen. Decades later, another investigator also discovered that our Sin had made a similar statement to a Fellows stockbroker, saying that quote, if you move something, it is not stolen. Well, our sent did become the prime suspect in the case, at least for the local police, but it took a super long time for that to happen,

and no one could figure out his motive. And remember, he had since passed away too. It's aren't historian Charnie who suggests a theory that a group of wealthy Catholic investors, with the help of local police and church authorities perhaps stole the paintings in hopes that Belgium's government would pay ransom for them. The theory continues that maybe why ourson never spoke of the Just Judge's panel as being stolen, Maybe it wasn't it was safe to him among his

fellow churchgoers. As a patron of the Catholic political party, he would have had special access to people of rank and influence within the church. In fact, he had attended the same school as Bishop Copieter as kids. Any though disagree that the wealthy and devout stockbroker would have resorted to extortion. He was involved with his local church and had co founded a Christian health service. He was a

known philanthropist who helped run two Catholic charities. His past as a sexton left him with good relations with the Diocese of Ghent, and when it came to the ransom, some experts wonder why he'd ask for ransom when he died with three million Belgian francs in the bank. For decades, theories and speculations about the possible thief and the possible hiding place of the Just Judges painting have regularly emerged, but still today, investigators are empty handed, but there is

a man. Carol Mortier was chief of the Ghent Police from nineteen seventy four to and he estimates he's been contacted about more than three hundred fifty possible locations for where to find the judges panel. None of those hundreds of tips have been correct. St. Babo's cathedral has been searched at least six times since the early nineteen forties,

but nothing has turned up. Mortier once supervised a partial X ray of the cathedral to the depth of roughly thirty three feet or ten meters, but also found nothing, and in amateur detective exhumed he illegally dug up our sins skull and questioned it during a seance. You won't be surprised that he got no new information there either. Though he's no longer an active officer, Mortier continues to hunt for that lost panel as his investigation plays out.

He has suggested our Sin could not have acted alone. First. It turns out he had a vision problem that made it difficult for him to see in the dark, and he probably would not have been capable of carrying out an art heist in a cathedral in the middle of the night. Mortier also suggested that the judge's panel taken from the altarpieces framework was so high off the ground that thieves would have needed a ladder to reach it

and at least two people to remove it. He concluded that one of the four church custodians was likely involved, even if it was only just to provide a ladder. But Mortier has met with a lot of obstacles during

his investigation. For instance, the church. The church granted him access to six hundred pages of archival material relating to the altarpiece, but those pages don't contain any content for the years between nineteen thirty four and nine, the exact period of time Mortier and all of us want to know more about. That kind of sounds a little like a conspiracy, but really it also seems like much of this heist investigation was just really sloppily conducted, or maybe

it was a conspiracy. Who were we to say, We're going to take a break for a word from our sponsor, and when we're back, we will talk about how the altarpiece survived the Second World War. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk more about that. Just judges panel but first, let's talk about how the thief from the Chief Shop spilled the beads on the perpetrators, or at least tried to. There are handful of colorful theories surrounding the laws of

the Just Judges panel. Some point to police collusion. Some say the painting is buried in the tomb of Albert the First near Brussels. Some say there's a secret code hidden in the ransom notes. I have been confronted with the wildest theories. Mortier once said, over decades he's collected so much information on the Just Judges heist that it took up a reported twenty six ft of filing space.

It's bigger than the piece itself. He He is also responsible for discovering archived files on Caesar Ericus, the perpetrator stealing cheese the night of the Vannyke theft. Caesar had originally recognized both of the men he'd seen at the cathedral that night. The cheese shop he robbed, remember, may have just been as close as across the street. He saw a large man in an overcoat pacing by the

side of a large black sedan. He saw a second man emerge from the church with a plank tucked under his arm, but the police didn't look into his statement. In seven, Caesar revealed at least one of their identities during his plea bargain, a man named Pillardoor, prim known local smuggler. Sure there's evidence the second person may have

been Go d'artier. His involvement in the story remains really interesting, and yet it's still an open case, and Eric Is could have just been naming names to shortened his own sentence. We don't know. Regardless, though, the police never wrote a second name down in their report and never follow it up on the prem league. During the Second World War, the piece was once again in high danger of looting.

Joseph Garbel's, the Minister of Propaganda for the Nazi government of the Third Reich, assigned Heinrich Khone of the Nazi Art Protection Department to search for this lost work. Khen traveled to Gainst to interview our Sin d'artier's family, as

well as George de Vos. Says historian Charney quote, this may sound very silly, but in fact, the Nazis and Hitler in particular, were absolutely convinced that the occult and the supernatural was real and They believed the Gainst altarpiece with some sort of mystical treasure map that could show them the location of religious relics, including the Arma Christie that's the crown of Thorns, the spear of Destiny, and other instruments in the biblical story of the Crucifixion of Jesus.

Cone went to work and his investigation concluded that the panel had originally been hidden on site, but he also reported it was moved and before his arrival and intentionally to keep it out of his hands. In con seventy six page file on his search for the panel, it was clear he had been convinced the panel was hidden at the cathedral. Globo's intended the painting as a gift to Hitler, the Cone failed to find it. While Cone may have been looking for one panel, German occupiers of

Belgium stole the entire altar piece. The Belgian government had dispatched the altarpiece to the Vatican for its safety, but Italy's declaration of war led to it being unexpectedly diverted to Pow in the French Pyrenees. It was there in ninety two, where it was seized by German troops who first stored it in a castle in Bavaria and then

in the Alto Sea salt mines. The salt mine was one of Hitler's largest repositories for plundered art, and in it were stored roughly six thousand, five hundred paintings, as well as books, statues, furniture and jewels taken from museums and private collections throughout Europe. These treasures were intended for a planned Fureum museum. Hitler had the idea of turning the city of his youth, Lens into a culture Hupstad

or cultural capital. He wanted the Ghent Altarpiece to be part of his super museum containing the world's greatest works of art. At the end of the war, Hitler ordered the salt mine to be blown up. That is a terrifying thing if you recognize how much art was in there. But not all was lost here the explosives were not yet rigged. Works were recovered by Allied troops in and that included the recovery of the Ghent Altarpiece, and there

is our one reference to the monuments men. The Ghent Altarpiece was returned to Belgium on a twenty one on a chartered cargo aircraft and while we wish you really wish we could say otherwise, it was anything but safe

travels for this invaluable work of arts. During the flight, a heavy storm broke out and while the crew feared the aircraft may not make it to Brussels, intact, the pilot did manage to land at a small military airfield, and after a short stay at the Royal Museum in Brussels, the altarpiece was finally returned to St. Babo's Cathedral in

November of nineteen. Since its return to St. Babo's, the missing panel has since been replaced with the reproduction painted by Belgian art restorer and sometimes art forger Jeff Vandervecken and installed with the piece in n Some detectives were and maybe still are suspicious of Vandervecken's contribution. While it looks on the surface like a good deed, some wondered if it was a brilliant way to pull off a theft, and speculation abounds. There is, though, one thing about vander

Becken's copy that everyone agrees really is extraordinarily odd. On the back of the replica, written in Flemish, is this cryptic poem and we quote I did it for love and for duty, and to avenge myself. I borrowed from the dark side. Today the pieces where it was intended to be in the St. Babo Cathedral in Ghent, although as an aside, it doesn't hang in its original position

and because of the altarpieces multiple dismantlings over time. Some experts now question the arrangement of the panels and whether they are correctly sequenced in its current form, and that question remains unanswered. The piece is now exhibited in a twenty ft tall climate controlled case with a one thousand square foot interior and it's all protected by bulletproof glass.

And for those who do want to get up close and personal with the piece, the cathedral has introduced an augmented reality experience to God visitors throughout the space virtually. Oh that sounds so cool ah and as for that

still missing just judges panel. Jan Yambom, current Prime Minister of the Government of Flanders, set in a statement in quote Jan Vanik was a genius who has been astonishing the world for more than five centuries with his innovative techniques, both the Magnificent restoration and the circumstances in which the gent altarpiece can now be admired are astonishing. The splendor of colors, the details, the lighting, everything is perfect. That makes us proud. So even without the just judges, it's

quite something. Even the photos of I have not seen it in person, the photos of unbelievable and it is huge. Let's go to Belgium, exactly. It makes everyone proud, so let's toast to it. Indeed, I am ready with some nice hooch. The thing that I kept fixating on in this episode, at least in my tiny mind as I thought about how to do a cocktail, was that whole

concept of moved not stolen. Yeah. I like that you pick that out because it's a really interesting turn of phrase that that man kept using, right, And that made me think about other existing cocktails and how you can riff on them. You're not stealing them, but you're trying

something new out of them simultaneously. I have been doing this thing where to just get better at making cocktails on the fly, like when friends come over, Like I kind of am focusing on one at a time to learn how to really do it well, or to figure out the way I like to do it. One of the ones that I have been drinking a little, because I also that's the good part, right you can go to places and order their version and get a sense

of how other people do it. And one of the ones that I have been working on trying to get better at and learn how I want to do it is the paloma, which has nothing to do with Belgium. It's mostly associated with Mexico, but it is a grapefruit and tequila drink, and I will say I struggle with it too, but I thought maybe this would offer an opportunity to borrow from the Paloma. I'm moving it around. I'm not stealing, I'm moving it, making it something else.

Who do you think you are a Napoleon? And there's no tequila in it, So I hope I didn't get anybody's hopes up in the tequila village. But I'm gonna make Maria real happy because there's a spirit she loves in here. I'm calling this just moved, not stolen. First of all, we have to do some combining here, because one of the things in a paloma is grapefruit juice.

I find that I like a sparkling grapefruit or a soda, a grapefruit soda, so we're not putting it in the shaker with the other ingredients, because you don't want to put your bubbles in a shaker, make a disaster happen that is hard to mop up. You're gonna put a half ounce of lemon, three quarters of an ounce of simple syrup. Get ready to cheer, Maria because then two ounces of bourbon. Oh yeah, okay, paying attention. Here's listen. I have who this one is a winner, and I'll

tell you why in a moment. So you're gonna shake that together. I went ahead and strained that into a second glass. Then I added the grapefruit, the sparkling grapefruit juice, which has a little bit of sugar in it already. That's why there's it's just a sweeter version of everything. Stir that together, and then I strained it once again into a Collin's glass and topped it with club soda. That's like an ounce and a half of sparkling grapefruit

juice is what goes in there. So that you don't have a lot of space for club soda, because you do want a lot of ice. It's like literally just a little more smoothness dilutes it just a little. I would say, it's only like an ounce. And then I stuck a straw in it and I tried it and went whole. And then I had my husband, who is not a drinker, try it, and he was like, I want to drink this all the time. That's how much you can't taste the bourbon. But you can. Here's what happens.

You're not getting that harsh flavor that sometimes a bourbon can have. You're not getting any of the heavy tones. But somehow, when juxtaposed with that sparkling grapefruit, you do get the things like the caramel note of a bourbon, and you do get like that sort of more rounded out, smoky flavor of it comes through without any of the harshness that you can sometimes have if you're not necessarily into drinking a straight brown spirit, because they can be

overwhelming for people. This kind of brings out all of their most beautiful qualities while softening up the harshest parts. And it is unbelievably delicious. I'm gonna make like I said, the moved, not stolen, is going into my life on a regular basis, which is fantastic, Like I've actually never I was never sure. You say that about a bourbon base. That's trouble. But I'm gonna make a lot of them.

So again. Here it is, top to bottom, a half ounce of lemon juice, three quarters of an ounce of simple syrup, two ounces of bourbon shaken strained into a second receptacle. Add an ounce and a half of sparkling grapefruit juice and stir that up. If you don't have sparkling grapefruit juice or a grapefruit soda, don't sweat it. Just use grapefruit juice. You're fine. Give that a stir, pour it into your colin's glass, and top it with You're only gonna need like an ounce of club soda. Delicious.

This is an easy one to do as a mocktail, because all you gotta do is a nice heavy tea in there in the lieu of the bourbon. And I would, actually, if you are really feeling it, I would make a black tea, and then I would spice it a little bit. You could even grate a little bit if you have vanilla into it, just a scouch. Not very much. Even a nutmeg or something in there, again, not very much. You don't want to make it gray any but you can do a wonder one sub out on that, and

it is the littles. I took a really lazy shortcut, I mean my black tea, and then I just did a tap of don't laugh at me, I'm very basic. And it was on hand pumpkin spot pie spice. It's the season. It has all of those yummy flavors, and that made a great like. I would also use that as a seasonal something. I would serve to guess when they come over that like if we don't want to drink, or if there's somebody that doesn't want to have a cocktail but wants to be in on the fun. Also

freaking delicious. Moved, not stolen. I didn't steal from the Paloma. I just moved stuff around a little, just added some other things. It's fine. I hope if you make this one you love it as much as I do. It's criminal how much I love it. I'm so proud of you. It's drink. I'm so delighted. It always feels like an accident when anything comes together that's utifully I know. I'm trying to do my balancing act, trying to figure out where to throttle back on ingredients and up some of

them to make it all balance out. But it's still some guesswork. And this one just was like, I don't know the Just Judges were helping from wherever they are hiding. I think Delicious on the rooftop of was convened for if you are helped by the Just Judges in your life, and I hope you are. UM, I hope that's grand for you. I also hope that you have enjoyed spending this time with us and that you will continue to do so. Come back next week, We're gonna have more,

more art heists and more delicious beverages. Criminalia is a production of Shonda land Audio in partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from Shonda land Audio, please visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,