Jan van Eyck's <I>Ghent Altarpiece</I> is on any art historian's list of the ten most important paintings ever made. Often referred to by the subject of its central panel the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb it represents the fulcrum between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is also the most frequently stolen artwork of all time.<br><br><br><br>Since its completion in 1432 this twelve-panel oil painting has been looted in three different wars burned dismembered forged smuggled illegally sold censored hidden attacked by iconoclasts hunted by the Nazis and Napoleon used as a diplomatic tool ransomed rescued by Austrian double-agents and stolen a total of thirteen times.<br><br><br><br>In this fast-paced real-life thriller art historian Noah Charney unravels the stories of each of these thefts. In the process he illuminates the whole fascinating history of art crime and the psychological ideological religious political and social motivations that have led many men to covet this one masterpiece above all others.
