Talk:Ghent Altarpiece

The Adoration of the Lamb is full of symbolism. Yet the most significant key to its interpretation - one that curiously seems to have eluded the art historians - is that the central section is arranged in the form of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life comprises three pillars and ten sephiroth. At the top of the central pillar, the pillar of Consciousness, is Kether, the Crown. This represents the Godhead through which God's will is manifest in the world. Below Kether is Da'at or Knowledge, symbolised in the painting by the Holy Spirit. At the center is Tipheret or Beauty, represented by the Lamb itself - the heart of God in the world. Next comes Yesod or Foundation, identified here by the fountain. Lastly comes Malkuth, the Kingdom. Perhaps that is you or I, the observer. As the Kabbalistic saying goes, "Kether is in Malkuth and Malkuth is in Kether".

To the right we have the masculine pillar, the pillar of Force. At the top is Hochmah or Wisdom. Below is Chesed or Mercy represented by the women carrying palms. Below that is Netzach or Victory, which conveys cyclical repetition, represented by the popes and bishops.

To the left we have the female pillar, the pillar of Form. At the top is Binah or Understanding. Below is Gevurah or Judgement, which can be interpreted as the enforcement of tradition on a day to day basis, and represented here by the clergy. Below that is Hod or Splendor, often associated with learning and represented by the Jewish scholars.

Clearly, the artists, Hubert and Jan van Eyck, were strongly influenced by Christian Kabbalah.