News & Stories

The latest about Getty’s work, collections, and exhibitions

Silhouette Sleuthing

How a curator unlocked the secrets in an arsenic-laced portrait album

Book page open to black bust silhouettes.
Ledger book of William Bache, 1803–1812. Black paper coated silhouettes mounted on paper. Digitized by MarkGulezian/NPG. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA; partial gift of Sarah Bache Bloise

Featured Stories

Dreaming of Venus and the Sea Monster

A close look at Getty art in relief

A relief sculpture of a nude Venus, laying on the back of a sea monster. She strokes his beard. A putto draws his arrow to shoot her
[Venus Reclining on a Sea Monster with Cupid and a Putto][1], 1787/1788–1790, John Deare. Marble, 13 1/4 × 23 × 4 7/16 in. Getty Museum, 98.SA.4 [1]: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107VRV

In the Headlines

  1. The Getty Gives $17 Million to Museums for Pacific Standard Time

    In 2024, institutions in Southern California will stage some 60 shows on art and science, from climate change to Indigenous futurism

  2. Find Out If Your Ancestor Is Among These 19th-Century Silhouettes in This Newly Digitized Collection

    The itinerant artist William Bache’s portraits are contaminated by arsenic, but now the National Portrait Gallery offers easy access

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