The Just Judges

The Just Judges panel is the most infamous component of the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck—it was stolen from Saint Bavo's Cathedral in 1934 and has never been recovered, making it one of art history's greatest unsolved mysteries. The original depicted a procession of judges on horseback approaching the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. The current panel is a copy made by the Belgian painter Jef Van der Veken in 1945. The theft has inspired numerous investigations and literary works.

The lost original exemplified Van Eyck's mastery of naturalistic portraiture and equestrian painting, with individually characterized faces and meticulously rendered horses, costumes, and landscape—now known only through copies and reproductions.