The restoration of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, the world-famous panels in Ghent Cathedral is incurring unexpected delays. The masterpiece by the Flemish Van Eyck Brothers will now not go on display again in St Bavo's Cathedral in 2026, as was previously announced, but only in the spring of 2027. By then the restoration of the entire Ghent altarpiece will have taken 15 years. The Flemish government is releasing extra funds to complete the final phase of the restoration of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb ensuring that the 7 upper panels can also be restored to their original 15th-century magnificence.
The first phase of the restoration began in 2012. In May 2023, the final phase of the restoration work started with the restoration of the 7 upper panels, with, from left to right, Adam, the singing angels, Mary, God or Christ (there is some debate about that), John the Baptist, the angels of music and Eve.
At the start of that final phase, it was assumed that it would be completed 3 years later and that the paintings could therefore still return to St Bavo’s Cathedral in 2026. Unfortunately, due to some unexpected surprises that restorers encountered Spring 2027 has now been pencilled in as the date for all the panels of the completely restored Ghent Altarpiece to be reunited. The full restoration will then have taken a decade and a half.
Delay due to pentimenti or overpaintings
The restoration is taking longer than expected due to overpaintings discovered during the restoration work.
"In the mid-16th century, much of the Lamb of God was overpainted to cover up small areas of damage," explains Hélène Dubois, head of the restoration team. "Conducting additional research and removing overpaintings naturally caused delays."
"These are zones of the panels that are particularly complicated and which required much more research once the restoration was underway. Now we have more time to deal with these zones."
319,000 euros more cash
Flemish Heritage Minister Ben Weyts (Flemish nationalist N-VA) and Flemish Culture Minister Caroline Gennez (socialist Vooruit) visited the Mystic Lamb restoration studio at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent earlier this month.
There, they announced an additional investment of 319,000 euros to complete the restoration to the very last detail. The total restoration cost now stands at €5 million.