Altar of the Mystical Lamb - Throne of God the Father

This towering figure in red sits at the very top of the Ghent Altarpiece, the great folding polyptych finished in 1432 for this cathedral. For centuries people have not agreed on exactly who he is. The papal-style crown resting at his feet points to God the Father. The young, beardless face looks more like Christ the Son. His position, enthroned between the Virgin Mary on one side and John the Baptist on the other, is the old arrangement usually built around Christ the King. Some scholars now read that doubt as deliberate, van Eyck folding Father and Son into a single image of God, and the panel does not settle it either way. What it does insist on is material splendour: the deep vermilion robe, the gold thread, the jewels along the crown and hem, each rendered in oil with such patience that the surfaces look touchable. That crown at his feet is real goldsmith's work translated into paint, gemstone by gemstone, the kind of luxury a rich cloth town like Ghent could genuinely put on show.