Drama and Devotion: Heemskerck’s Ecce Homo Altarpiece from Warsaw (Getty Publications, $25.00, paperback) highlights a rare extant work in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw that was sent to the J. Paul Getty Museum for conservation. The Ecce Homo triptych of 1544 once graced the family chapel of Jan van Drenckwaerdt, a wealthy merchant and sheriff, in Dordrecht’s Augustinian church. This unusually complete triptych, with its original decorated frame, was brought to the Getty for treatment and study as part of the Conservation Partnership program.
Over the course of his long career, Heemskerck created lively mythological scenes, dramatic altarpieces for guilds, and smaller works for wealthy individuals. Several of his religious paintings were destroyed by Protestant iconoclasts in 1566. Richly illustrated, Drama and Devotion documents the dramatic process of revealing the brilliance of a sixteenth-century masterpiece, and it sheds light on the artist’s technique, iconography, and the role of the altarpiece in the turbulent history of the era. The book accompanies an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum that opens June 5, 2012.
About the Authors—Anne T. Woollett is curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum and author of Rembrandt in Southern California (Getty Publications, 2009). Yvonne Szafran is senior conservator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Alan Phenix is a scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute.
Publication Information: Drama and Devotion Heemskerck’s Ecce Homo Altarpiece from Warsaw Anne T. Woollett, Yvonne Szafran, and Alan Phenix J. Paul Getty Museum 112 pages, 9 x 10 inches, paperback 68 color and 21 b/w illustrations ISBN 978-1-60606-112-1, $25.00 [UK £16.99] Publication Date: June 3, 2012