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The 'Ghent Altarpiece' mystery

  • A reproduction of the stolen Just Judges panel by Jef Vanderveken. (Wikimedia Commons)
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    Ghent

    A reproduction of the stolen Just Judges panel by Jef Vanderveken. (Wikimedia Commons)
  • A restorer inspects one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
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    Ghent

    A restorer inspects one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
  • A restorer takes a picture one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
    3/5

    Ghent

    A restorer takes a picture one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
  • A restorer inspects one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
    4/5

    Ghent

    A restorer inspects one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
  • A restorer works on one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, at the Fine Arts museum in Ghent, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and will be restored over a five-year period. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
    5/5

    Ghent

    A restorer works on one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, at the Fine Arts museum in Ghent, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and will be restored over a five-year period. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
A reproduction of the stolen Just Judges panel by Jef Vanderveken. (Wikimedia Commons)
A restorer inspects one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
A restorer takes a picture one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
A restorer inspects one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at The Genth Museum of Fine Arts October 2, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures, and which was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, will be restored over a five-year period. REUTERS/Yves Herman
A restorer works on one of the 24 framed panels of the Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, at the Fine Arts museum in Ghent, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. The painting, considered to be one of Belgium's masterpieces was completed in 1432 by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and will be restored over a five-year period. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

If Rotterdam's stunning heist of Picasso, Monet and Matisse paintings last month focused attention on the murky world of art theft, Ghent's gothic Saint Bavo cathedral has been at the center of a crime that has bedeviled the art world for decades. The Just Judges panel of the Van Eyck brothers’ multi-panel Gothic masterpiece hasn't been seen since 1934, when chief suspect Arsene Goedertier suffered a stroke at a political rally close to Ghent and died after murmuring possibe clues to the crime to a confidant.