The Descent from the Cross

Pieter Fransz. de Grebber (c. 1600 - c. 1653). The Descent from the Cross, 1633. The Haarlem-born Catholic painter Pieter de Grebber made this altarpiece in 1633 for the Church of St Gommarus and St Pancras in the Breedstraat in Enkhuizen. Pieter de Grebber was related by marriage to Augustinus de Wolff - pastor of the parish and the man who commissioned the work: De Wolff's brother was married to the artist's sister Maria Fransdr. de Grebber, who was herself a painter. She had painted a portrait of her brother-in-law in 1631. The painting is shown here in its original frame. The work is not in the best of conditions - the varnish has yellowed and become opaque. Purchased from H.J. Dierenbach, pastor of the Old Catholic Church in Enkhuizen, 1907.