The Westminster Retable ─ History, Technique, Conservation

Considered one of the most beautiful medieval paintings, the Retable, according to recent consensus, was probably the high altarpiece of Henry III's Abbey church and might have been in place for the dedication of the building in 1269. Somehow, it survived and now resides in the Museum of Westminster Abbey. Restoration was completed in 2005, by the Hamilton Kerr Institute, a department of the Fitzwilliam Museum, U. of Cambridge, and a great deal of information was learned during the course of the long, supremely cautious restorative work. In this monograph 37 scholarly contributions discuss the Retable's history, function, and manufacture, as well as the restoration process itself. Abundant illustrations document the painting as it looked before and after. Distribution in the North America is by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)