The strange history of the world's most stolen painting - Noah Charney

譯者: Claire Liang 審譯者: Man Chun Ma

Throughout six centuries, the Ghent Altarpiece

六百年來，根特祭壇畫

has been burned, forged, and raided in three different wars.

曾在三場不同戰爭中 被燒毀、偽造和破壞。

It is, in fact, the world’s most stolen artwork.

其實，這幅畫作是全世界 最常失竊的作品。

And while it’s told some of its secrets, it’s kept others hidden.

雖然已知這幅作品的一些秘密， 但仍有其他不為人知的事。

In 1934, the police of Ghent, Belgium heard that one of the Altarpiece’s panels,

1934 年，比利時根特的警方 聽聞祭壇畫其中一個

split between its front and back, was suddenly gone.

連接前後的面板畫作突然消失了。

The commissioner investigated the scene

警察總長調查現場，

but determined that a theft at a cheese shop was more pressing.

但認為起司店的竊盜案比較迫切。

Twelve ransom notes appeared over the following months

接下來數個月， 共有 12 封信要求付贖金，

and one half of the panel was even returned as a show of good faith.

甚至送還面板的一半，以表示誠意。

Meanwhile, art restorer Jef van der Veken

同時，藝術修復師傑夫·范德維科

made a replica of the other half for display until it was found.

複製了另一半畫作展示用， 直到被竊的另一半被尋回。

But it never was.

但那另一半卻從至今下落不明。

Some suspected that he was involved in the theft and,

有人懷疑，他與這起竊盜案有關，

once ransom demands failed,

認為他要求贖金未果，

had simply painted over the original and presented it as his copy.

便在原本的畫上面作畫， 然後當作自己的複製品。

But a definitive answer wouldn’t come for decades.

但幾十年來都沒有明確的答案。

Just six years later, Hitler was planning a grand museum,

六年後，希特勒打算建一座大博物館，

but was missing his most desired possession: the Ghent Altarpiece.

但少了一個他最想要的東西： 就是根特祭壇畫。

As Nazi forces advanced, Belgian leaders sent the painting to France.

隨著納粹的勢力迫近，比利時的首領 將該幅作品寄至法國。

But the Nazis commandeered and moved it to a salt mine

但是納粹掠奪畫作， 將其移到一座鹽礦，

converted into a stolen art warehouse that contained over 6,000 masterpieces.

該鹽礦被當成失竊藝術品的倉庫， 存放着超過六千幅畫作。

Near the war’s end in 1945,

1945 年戰爭結束之際，

a Nazi official decided he’d rather blow up the mine

一位納粹官員決定要炸毀鹽礦，

before letting it fall into Allied hands.

以防落入盟軍手中。

In fact, the Allies had soldiers called Monuments Men

其實，盟軍有一支叫做 「古物奇兵」的隊伍，

who were tasked with protecting cultural treasures.

他們負責保護文化瑰寶。

Two of them were stationed 570 kilometers away when one got a toothache.

其中兩名士兵被部署在 570 公里外，當時有一人牙痛。

They visited a local dentist,

他們一起到當地牙醫就診，

who mentioned that his son-in-law also loved art and took them to meet him.

牙醫說他女婿也很喜歡藝術品， 便帶兩位士兵去見他。

They discovered that he was actually one of the Nazi’s former art advisors,

士兵發現他其實是前納粹藝術顧問，

now in hiding.

但現在正在藏匿。

And miraculously, he told them everything.

而且他把所有事情告訴士兵， 令人不可置信。

The Monuments Men devised a plan to rescue the art

古物奇兵隊擬定了計劃要救回藝術品，

and the local Resistance delayed the mine’s destruction until they arrived.

當地反抗軍拖延了鹽礦的 炸毀行動直到奇兵隊抵達。

Inside, they found the Altarpiece among other world treasures.

他們在鹽礦內發現該幅祭壇畫， 以及其他世界珍寶。

The Ghent Altarpiece,

根特祭壇畫，

also called "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" after its central subject,

根據其主題又名「神秘羔羊之愛」，

consists of 12 panels depicting the Biblical story.

是包括 12 幅面板畫的作品， 它描述了聖經的故事。

It’s one of the most influential artworks ever made.

它是最具影響力的藝術品之一。

When Jan van Eyck completed it in Ghent in 1432,

揚·范艾克於 1432 年 在根特完成這幅作品時，

it was immediately deemed the best painting in Europe.

就馬上被認定是歐洲最傑出的畫作。

For millennia, artists used tempera paint consisting of ground pigment in egg yolk,

數千年來，藝術家用蛋彩畫法， 以手磨顏料粉混入蛋黃，

which created vivid but opaque colors.

創造出鮮明帶朦朧的色彩。

The Altarpiece was the first to showcase the unique abilities of oil paint.

該祭壇畫是首次展示油畫的特殊效果。

They allowed van Eyck to capture light and movement

油畫技法讓范艾克得以 捕捉光影與動作，

in a way that had never been seen before.

這是一種前所未見的畫法。

He did this using brushes sometimes as tiny as a single badger hair.

他用油畫刷作畫，有時 油畫刷和一根獾毛一樣小。

And by depicting details like Ghent landmarks,

透過描繪根特地標、

botanically identifiable flowers, and lifelike faces,

能被清楚辨析的花朵和 逼真的臉孔等細節，

the Altarpiece pioneered an artistic mode that would come to be known as Realism.

祭壇畫開創了一種藝術形式， 後來被稱為現實主義。

Yet, conservation work completed in 2019 found that, for centuries,

然而，2019 年完成的 保護工作發現，幾世紀以來，

people had been viewing a dramatically altered version.

大家觀賞的畫是大幅更動過的版本。

Due to dozens of restorations,

畫作經過數十次的修復，

as much as 70% of certain sections had been painted over.

甚至有一幅畫多達 70% 經過重繪。

As conservators removed these layers of paint, varnish, and grime,

隨著修復人員清除這些 重繪的顏料、亮光漆及塵垢，

they discovered vibrant colors and whole buildings that had long been invisible.

他們發現這些長時間不見蹤影的 鮮豔的顏色和一整棟建築物。

Other details were more unsettling.

還有其他更令人不安的細節。

The mystic lamb’s four ears had long perplexed viewers.

神秘羔羊的四隻耳朵一直令人疑惑。

But the conservation team revealed that the second pair

但修復團隊發現，第二對耳朵

was actually a pentimento—

其實是原畫再現——

the ghost of underlying layers of paint that emerge as newer ones fade.

就是指原本被覆蓋的底層 在上層褪色後顯現。

Restorers had painted over the original lamb

當時修復師在原本的羔羊上作畫，

with what they deemed a more palatable version.

畫成他們認為 較能被大眾所接受的版本。

They removed this overpainting

修復團隊清除覆蓋上去的畫，

and discovered the original to be shockingly humanoid.

發現原本的羔羊 有一張極像人形的面孔。

The conservators also finally determined whether van der Veken

修復團隊最後也確認范德維科是否

had simply returned the missing panel from 1934.

已送回 1934 年 遺失的一幅畫版，

He hadn’t.

但他沒有。

It was confirmed to be a copy, meaning the original is still missing.

後來確認那幅是複製品， 表示原作仍不知去向。

But there was one final clue.

但有一條最後的線索。

A Ghent stockbroker, while on his deathbed a year after the theft,

畫失竊後一年，一位 根特股票經紀人在臨終前

revealed an unsent ransom note.

揭露一封未寄出的勒索信。

It reads:

信中說：

it “rests in a place where neither I, nor anybody else,

「畫存放在一個你我都 無法偷偷拿走的地方，

can take it away without arousing the attention of the public.”

如果要拿走，所有人都會知道。」

A Ghent detective remains assigned to the case but,

根特一位探員持續 在調查這件案子，但是

while there are new tips every year, it has yet to be found.

即使每年都有新的提示， 卻仍然還未找到。