St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece
St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Ghent. Give it roughly ~90 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~90 min
- Ghent Ghent guide
About St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece
Home to the 1432 Ghent Altarpiece by the van Eyck brothers, the most important painting in Belgium and a cornerstone of Western art.
St Bavo's Cathedral is the spiritual and artistic heart of Ghent, a magnificent Gothic church whose construction began in the tenth century and continued for over 300 years. The cathedral's crowning glory is the Ghent Altarpiece, or 'Adoration of the Mystic Lamb,' completed in 1432 by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. This polyptych consists of twelve panels revealing twenty-four scenes and more than two hundred meticulously painted figures, representing a quantum leap in the history of European painting. It introduced oil painting technique at its highest form, with photographic realism that stunned contemporaries.
The altarpiece has had a dramatic history, looted by Napoleon, seized by the Nazis during WWII, and recovered by Allied forces from an Austrian salt mine in 1945. One panel, 'The Just Judges,' remains missing. The cathedral also contains Rubens' masterwork 'The Conversion of St Bavo.' An ongoing world-class conservation project lets visitors watch restorers at work through a viewing gallery, making this a living monument to art history.
Did you know? The Ghent Altarpiece is the most stolen artwork in history, having been taken or looted at least 13 times in six centuries.
How long is a visit to St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece?
Set aside roughly ~90 min for St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece worth your time?
St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece is among the 22 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Ghent, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Ghent
Hear the story of St Bavo's Cathedral & the Ghent Altarpiece
Preview the Ghent tour free in the Gingerguide app.