Excerpt
Below is an excerpt from my translation of the book How ‘DUA’lism Unlocks the Mystery of the Just Judges (Chris Noppe, 2004). You can read the original Dutch text here.
Excerpt from Chapter 1
Wednesday, April 11, 1934, 5:25 AM. The “Swissman,” St. Bavo Cathedral’s assistant sexton, began his rounds, readying the cathedral for the public. Upon arriving at the door to the right side entrance, which opens onto St. Bavo Square, he saw to his great surprise that the door was ajar. The fact that he remained calm can be attributed to a similar occurrence exactly five months earlier. On November 11, 1933, precisely fifteen years after the 1918 armistice, a casual passerby notified the police that the cathedral’s left side door on the Kapittelstraat was open. After a thorough inspection nothing appeared to be missing. The Swissman informed the sexton nonetheless when he arrived a short while later. Both men began an immediate search of the cathedral to ensure that nothing had been stolen. Fortunately, they confirmed that nothing was out of the ordinary, and when they saw that the entrance to the Vijd chapel, where the most valuable artwork was displayed, was intact, they were able to return to their work with relief.
Around 7 AM on April 11, the Swissman opened the gates to the Vijd chapel, named for the wealthy couple who sponsored the Van Eyck brothers’ Adoration of the Mystic Lamb in 1432. He calmly raised the green curtain that protected the Mystic Lamb from dust. A shock resonated through his body. He stared aghast into a large hole where the oaken side panels of St. John the Baptist and the Just Judges once stood. The assistant sexton raced to Canon Van den Gheyn, curator of the cathedral’s art collection. Together they reported the theft to Chief of Police E. Patijn. At 8:35 AM, Chief Patijn wrote the first formal report on an inexplicable crime which would still hold humanity in its sway decades later.
The shocking news of the theft spread quickly through Flemish households via radio. Hundreds of people rushed to confirm this “sacrilegious theft.” Hindered by the swarm of people continually streaming into the cathedral, the forensic police team, under the leadership of A. Luysterborgh, could not carry out its work. The team decided to return in the late afternoon after the human river had diminished; as a result, many useful leads were very likely lost. This illustrates how little attention was paid in the beginning to what was, after all, an important art theft. The value of the Just Judges alone was estimated at 12 million Belgian francs in the 1930s, some 6 million euros in today’s currency.
The police were, however, able to determine that there were no traces of forced entry upon the cathedral’s entrance doors. On the altarpiece’s frame, they saw several imprints made by a hard object; several photographs were made of these. The only object the thief left behind was a short length of rope. Their first conclusion was that the thief had let himself be locked in the cathedral in order to strike at night.
In the days following the theft, the rumor mill moved into full swing. Suspects were spotted everywhere. Germans in particular were frequently blamed because Germany had once claimed the Mystic Lamb for itself. The investigation was quickly stalled, until that first of May.
