The Triptych

This is where it all began: the auction catalogue of the estate of Gerrit Braamcamp, on July 31, 1771. This immensely wealthy distiller, timber merchant, and art collector left behind an enormous art collection after his death. One of these works was 'The Maternity Room', which is referred to as 'The Triptych' in this story. This work was sold at the art auction for an astronomical sum to Catherine the Great, the Tsarina of Russia. The intention was for it to hang in the Imperial Winter Palace, which we now call the Hermitage.

These paintings were loaded aboard “De Vrouwe Maria” in September of that year. At the end of the month, tolls were duly paid to the Danish government, but not many days later it struck a rock and sank. The ship lies at a depth of forty meters. The woodcarvings can still be seen in the railing to this day, but little remains of the masterpieces...

253 years later, the phone rang at my house in Zutphen. I received a call from the NPO, asking if I wanted to participate in a TV program about bringing seventeenth-century masterpieces to life. Naturally, I didn't hesitate for a second—naturally!