Art News

Getty Awards $630,000 for Conservation of Ghent Altarpiece and Vasari’s Last Supper

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Getty Foundation has awarded $630,000 for the preservation of two major works of art: The Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck (the Ghent Altarpiece) of 1432 and The Last Supper by Giorgio Vasari of 1546. These grants are part of the Getty’s Panel Paintings Initiative, an international effort to train conservation specialists to ensure that important and intricate works of art such as these survive for future generations. The tradition of painting on wood panels was widespread in Europe from the late 12th through the17th centuries. Panel paintings are among the most significant works in American, European, and Russian museum collections and in religious buildings, including works by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Peter Paul Rubens, and Rembrandt van Rijn. Unfortunately, many of these works are now threatened by serious problems due to the warping, cracking, and splitting of the wood on