The MSK in Ghent hosted the largest Jan Van Eyck exhibition to date. This testament to Van Eyck's artistic mastery was supposed to run from February until the end of April. In March, however, COVID-19 got in the way. Since a lot of people were missing out on an exclusive exhibition, MSK and Visit Flanders came knocking on our door.

We joined forces and developed an online 360° virtual tour of the Van Eyck galleries. Now, everyone can scroll through the gallery halls and enjoy over 120 masterpieces made by this 15th Century prolific Flemish painter and his contemporaries. All you need is an internet connection and a web browser. Thanks to crisp and clean audio voice-over for adults and children, you even have a personal guide that takes you through the exhibition.

The rooms were dark, and the artworks, safely secured behind glass panels, were illuminated with spotlights that caused reflections. Those conditions made photographing a challenge. We sent out our most experienced people packed and loaded with our best gear, and they came back with beautiful hi-res material. Special attention was given to post-production to make a perfect virtual one-on-one copy of the physical exposition. To top it off, we wrapped the virtual tour in the Jan Van Eyck Exhibition’s branding style to ensure a consistent experience.

Now it’s your turn. You can still visit the virtual exhibition as an immersive web experience. Each painting is viewable as a hi-res picture and is seasoned with info and backstory in both text and voice-over in eight languages. Even if you don’t have the time to watch the entire gallery, definitely check out Van Eyck’s infamous the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. It has been recently restored by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage between 2012 and 2016. 

Truly a sight to behold.