294 Ghent Altarpiece
the source of its main raw material, wool; and most of the
rest of western Europe, especially the Mediterranean with
its luxury products. By the 13th century, Ghent was
among the richest cities in Europe. In the 13th and 14th
centuries the city government and its rich merchants
erected prestigious buildings, graphic proof of their
industrial and commercial power.
In the meantime the government of the town was
controlled by a group of powerful patrician families. By
the 14th century, social tensions between these patricians
and their allies, the rich tradesmen, on one side and the
large number of weavers and fullers involved in the pro-
duction and trade of cloth, but excluded from the regime,
on the other side, reached a crisis, leading to a long series
of regime changes and revolution. This process was
accentuated by the economic and military crises of the
HUNDRED YEARS’WAR. Ghent fell into depression and
agitation in the 14th century. In 1336, a patrician, Jacob
van ARTEVELDE, expelled the count with the support of
the English. Ghent was then temporarily at the head
of all the Flemish cities. In 1383, Philip the Bold
(r. 1363–1404), duke of BURGUNDY, made it part of the
duchy of Burgundy. The next 70 years was prosperous for
the town, but by the second half of the 15th century,
Ghent experienced a deep depression because it had been
replaced by other production and trading centers.
See alsoBRABANT;BRUGES; CLOTHING AND COSTUME;
TEXTILES.
Further reading: Hilda Johnstone, trans., Annales
Gandenses: Annals of Ghent (1951; reprint, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1985); Peter Arnade, Realms of Ritual:
Burgundian Ceremony and Civic Life in Late Medieval
Ghent (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996);
Johan Decavele, ed., Ghent: In Defense of a Rebellious City:
History, Art, Culture (Antwerp: Mercatorfonds, 1989);
David Nicholas, The Domestic Life of a Medieval City:
Women, Children, and the Family in Fourteenth-Century
Ghent (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985);
Henri Pirenne, Early Democracies in the Low Countries:
Urban Society and Political Conflict in the Middle Ages and
the Renaissance,trans. J. V. Saunders (1915; reprint New
York: Harper & Row, 1963).
Ghent Altarpiece The Ghent Altarpiece of the Lamb
was a masterpiece of 15th-century Flemish painting. This
huge polyptych consisted of 20 panels in three parts
painted on both sides. It was begun by Hubert van EYCK
about 1425/26. After his death, it was completed by his
brother, Jan van EYCK, in 1432. It was commissioned by a
local merchant. When opened, the altarpiece displayed a
panorama around an adoration of the lamb or Christ by
some 300 saints in HEAVENor PARADISE. In a lower zone
were depicted representations of Christ with the Virgin
MARYand Saint John the Baptist in a center panel with
angels, singing and playing instruments, and Adam and
Eve. The two panels on wings opening outward on the
exterior depicted the donor and his wife kneeling before
John the Baptist and John the Evangelist below and the
Annunciation above. Though an amalgamation, the vari-
ous panels indicate the full range of the developing styles
of the van Eycks, all executed with meticulous and
exquisite detail.
See alsoALTARS AND ALTARPIECES;GHENT; PAINTING.
Further reading: Lotte Brand Philip, The Ghent
Altarpiece and the Art of Jan van Eyck(Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1971); Peter Schmidt, The
Ghent Altarpiece(Bruges: Ludion, 2001).Ghibellines SeeGUELFS ANDGHIBELLINES.Ghiberti, Lorenzo (1378–1455) Florentine sculptor, caster
of bronze, goldsmith, architect, painter, writer
Lorenzo Ghiberti was born in or near FLORENCEbetween
1378 and 1381. He learned the goldsmith’s trade from his
stepfather, Bartoluccio de Michele; though many small
sculptural pieces have been attributed to Ghiberti, no
goldsmith’s article mentioned in contemporary docu-
ments has been identified as by him. He was accepted
into the GUILD of the goldsmiths in 1409, into the
painters’ guild in 1423, and into the stonemasons’ guild
in 1427.
In 1400 Ghiberti went to the ROMAGNAto escape the
PLAGUEin Florence and assisted another painter in exe-
cuting FRESCOESon the walls of a CASTLEof the Malatesta
family. On his return to Florence in 1401, Ghiberti partic-
ipated with six other Tuscan sculptors in the competition
for the gilded bronze north doors of the Florence Baptis-
tery. He won. The theme of the doors was the sacrifice of
Isaac. In them Ghiberti suggested classical antiquity but
generally adhered to a traditional GOTHICstyle. When the
commission was finally awarded to Ghiberti in 1403 and
renewed in 1407, the subjects were changed from the Old
to the New Testament in some 38 scenes. The figures
were gilded and set in high relief against a neutral back-
ground. Ghiberti established a large workshop to carry
out his great undertaking. It was a technical training
ground for the next generation of Florentine painters and
sculptors, including DONATELLO, Masolino (ca. 1383–
1447), and Paolo UCCELLO. The first doors were finally
completed in 1424.OTHER WORKS
Ghiberti made several other works during the period
from 1403 to 1424, including bronze statues of saints for
the niches on the exterior of Orsanmichele in Florence.
John the Baptistwas completed for the cloth merchants’
guild in 1416, and Saint Matthewwas installed in its
niche in 1422 by the bankers’ guild. Between 1417 and
1427 Ghiberti made two bronze reliefs for the font of the
Baptistery in SIENA. During this period he also became