---
title: 9. The Louvain Altar-Piece
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/11-the-louvain-altar-piece/
description: 9. The Louvain Altar-Piece, from Falsehood in War-Time by Arthur Ponsonby.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-interwar.jpg)

[Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/) · Book · [Falsehood in War-Time](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/)

# 9. The Louvain Altar-Piece

This text

- **Work:** [Falsehood in War-Time](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/)
- **Author:** Arthur Ponsonby
- **Published:** 1928

Full details

- **Rights:** Published in the United Kingdom in 1928, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States. Ponsonby died in 1946, so the text is also in the public domain in countries that count the author's life plus 70 years.

Chapters

1. [Preface](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/01-preface/)
2. [Introduction](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/02-introduction/)
3. [1. The Commitment to France](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/03-the-commitment-to-france/)
4. [2. Serbia and the Murder of the Archduke](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/04-serbia-and-the-murder-of-the-archduke/)
5. [3. Invasion of Belgium as Cause of War](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/05-invasion-of-belgium-as-cause-of-war/)
6. [4. Germany’s Sole Responsibility for the War](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/06-germany-s-sole-responsibility-for-the-war/)
7. [5. Passage of Russian Troops through Great Britain](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/07-passage-of-russian-troops-through-great-britain/)
8. [6. The Mutilated Nurse](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/08-the-mutilated-nurse/)
9. [7. The Criminal Kaiser](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/09-the-criminal-kaiser/)
10. [8. The Belgian Baby without Hands](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/10-the-belgian-baby-without-hands/)
11. [9. The Louvain Altar-Piece](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/11-the-louvain-altar-piece/)
12. [10. The Contemptible Little Army](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/12-the-contemptible-little-army/)
13. [11. Deutschland über Alles](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/13-deutschland-ber-alles/)
14. [12. The Baby of Courbeck Loo](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/14-the-baby-of-courbeck-loo/)
15. [13. The Crucified Canadian](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/15-the-crucified-canadian/)
16. [14. The Shooting of the Franzosling](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/16-the-shooting-of-the-franzosling/)
17. [15. Little Alf’s Stamp Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/17-little-alf-s-stamp-collection/)
18. [16. The Tattooed Man](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/18-the-tattooed-man/)
19. [17. The Corpse Factory](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/19-the-corpse-factory/)
20. [18. The Bishop of Zanzibar’s Letter](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/20-the-bishop-of-zanzibar-s-letter/)
21. [19. The German U-Boat Outrage](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/21-the-german-u-boat-outrage/)
22. [20. Constantinople](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/22-constantinople/)
23. [21. The “Lusitania”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/23-the-lusitania/)
24. [22. Report of a Broken-up Meeting](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/24-report-of-a-broken-up-meeting/)
25. [23. Atrocity Stories](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/25-atrocity-stories/)
26. [24. Faked Photographs](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/26-faked-photographs/)
27. [25. The Doctoring of Official Papers](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/27-the-doctoring-of-official-papers/)
28. [26. Hypocritical Indignation](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/28-hypocritical-indignation/)
29. [27. Other Lies](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/29-other-lies/)
30. [28. The Manufacture of News](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/30-the-manufacture-of-news/)
31. [29. War Aims](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/31-war-aims/)
32. [30. Foreign Lies](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/32-foreign-lies/)

[← 8. The Belgian Baby without Hands](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/10-the-belgian-baby-without-hands/) [10. The Contemptible Little Army →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/12-the-contemptible-little-army/)

**Content note:** Repeats First World War atrocity stories, including invented ones, and their wording. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

At the Peace Conference the Belgian representatives claimed the wings of Dietrick Bouts’s altar-piece in compensation for the famous altar-piece from Louvain, a valuable work of art which they declared had been wantonly thrown into the flames of the burning library by a German officer. The story was accepted and the two pictures transferred. But it was not true.

The New Statesman of April 12, 1924, gives the facts :

The Dietrick Bouts altar-piece was not thrown into the flames by the Germans or by anyone else. The picture is still in existence at Louvain, perfectly intact, and the Germans were not its destroyers but its preservers. A German officer saved it from the flames and gave it to the burgomaster, who had it taken for safe custody to the vaults of the Town Hall and walled in there. It has been duly unwalled. . . .

[← 8. The Belgian Baby without Hands](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/10-the-belgian-baby-without-hands/) [10. The Contemptible Little Army →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/12-the-contemptible-little-army/)

Falsehood in War-Time, Arthur Ponsonby. Published in the United Kingdom in 1928, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States. Ponsonby died in 1946, so the text is also in the public domain in countries that count the author's life plus 70 years. [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/).