This film is a study of Van Eyck’s first-named painting The Mystic
Lamb, sometimes called The Adoration of the Lamb, and known as the Ghent altarpiece.
'This triptych, made for St. Bavo's Cathedral in Gent, and only opened on
feast days, is one of the most extraordianry paintings of the Christian story.
It was begun by his elder brother Hubert, and after Hubert's death in 1426,
completed by Jan in 1432. The closed wings explore the mystery of the Incarnation,
where the Angel Gabriel announces the conception to the Virgin Mary. The open
wings disclose the birth of a new order: the Redemption of the World. The
Lamb of God stands upon an altar, his blood streaming into a chalice, surrounded
by kneeling angels. People from the whole of Christendom, past and present,
come to worship the Lamb. On the upper level Christ is seated in majesty,
with Mary and John on either side of him, hymned by Angels, with Adam and
Eve, both naked and contemplative, framing the whole scene.
This film aims to explore the remarkable symbolism of the Annunciation, the
Lamb of God, and Christ and John and Mary and the Angels, as well as the unusual
significance of the human figures - the two donors on the outside and Adam
and Eve, their archetypal parents, within - to try to reach an understanding
of some of the many meanings of the painting.
DVD 65 min. approx. Region Free. 4:3.