Noah Charney's full length account of the Ghent Altarpiece's documented theft history: thirteen recorded crimes against it since 1432, including panels taken by Napoleon's troops in 1794 and returned in 1815, a 1934 theft of the Righteous Judges panel from Saint Bavo's Cathedral that remains unsolved, and its wartime seizure and eventual Allied recovery from the Altaussee salt mine repository in 1945.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Charney founded ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, and this is the standard full length popular nonfiction account of the altarpiece's documented crime history, drawing on archival and law enforcement records rather than being itself a peer reviewed academic monograph; used here specifically for the theft history, not for the painting's own theological iconography. NotesCited for the Ghent Altarpiece's documented theft and wartime history.
Citation
AuthorNoah Charney
PublisherPublicAffairs
Publication Year2010
Source TypeBook (popular history)
Claims Backed By This Source (25 claims)
This source backs 25 claims across the atlas. As facts: 18 well-attested. As cited relationships: 4 holds. Plus 3 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sacred Art & Iconography, 9 claims: 4 well-attested, 4 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
- Sacred Sites, 5 claims: 4 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Articles, 4 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 general references.
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