As a whole, the work before you is _not_ entirely by the two Van Eycks. The Adam and Eve on the outer upper shutters of the interior (originally by Hubert) have been altogether removed, and are now in the Museum at Brussels, where we shall see them in due course. Their place has been filled, not by copies (for the originals were nude), but by skin-clad representations of the same figures, whose nudity seemed to the Emperor Joseph II. unsuitable for a church. The lower wings, which were principally (it is believed) by Jan van Eyck, have also been removed, and sold to Berlin. They are replaced by very tolerable copies, made in the early 16th century by Michael Coxcie. Thus, to form an idea of the _detail_ of the original in its full totality it is necessary to visit, not only Ghent, but also Brussels and Berlin. Nevertheless, I describe the whole picture here _as it stands_, as this is the best place to observe its general composition. I shall say a few words later as to variations of this work from the original. There is a good copy of the whole picture in the Museum at Antwerp, where you will be able to inspect it at greater length and under easier conditions. The remaining portions of the original still left here are believed to be for the most part the work of Hubert van Eyck. Jan must rather be studied in many scattered places,—Bruges, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, and London. The altar-piece was commissioned from Hubert van Eyck by Josse Vydts (Latinised as Jodocus), a gentleman of Ghent, and his wife, Isabella, about the year 1420. Hubert died while the polyptych was still unfinished, and Jan completed it in 1432. Too much importance has been attached by critics, I fancy, to the rhyming hexameter inscribed upon it, (with the words “De Eyck” unmetrically introduced:) “Pictor Hubertus major quo nemo repertus,” etc. They have been twisted into a deliberate expression of belief on the part of Jan that Hubert was a greater painter than himself. If so, it seems to me, Jan was a worse critic than painter. They are probably due, however, to a somewhat affected modesty, or more probably still, to a priestly poet who was in straits to find a rhyme for Hubertus. I proceed to a =detailed explanation= of the picture.