Interior Panels
The inner panels are organised into two registers or levels, and contain depictions of hundreds of figures. The upper consists of seven monumental panels each almost six feet high and contains a large central image of Christ flanked by wings showing Mary to the left and John the Baptist to the right. The next pair outwards show groups of young women playing musical instruments. The two outermost wings show near life sized depictions of Adam and Eve naked save for strategically placed fig leaves.
The lower register shows a panoramic landscape that stretches continuously across five panels. While the individual wings of the upper tier clearly contain separate individual - albeit paired - pictorial spaces, the lower tier is presented as a unified Mise en scène.
Of the 12 individual panels eight are painted on either side.
Read more about this topic: Ghent Altarpiece
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