Beastie Boys Mom Donates Major Renaissance Painting to Massachusetts Museum

We felt the need to GIF the Renaissance painting, given the context of the donor’s personal history. Apologies to Veronese. Original image of Paolo Veronese, “Venus Disarming Cupid” (c. 1560), oil on canvas, Gift of Hester Diamond, 2013.50 (original image courtesy Worcester Art Museum)

This month, the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts announced it has acquired Paolo Veronese’s “Venus Disarming Cupid” (circa 1560), which is believed to be one of the few works by the famed Italian Renaissance master still in private hands. The painting is a gift from collector Hester Diamond of New York, who is best known as the mother of Mike D of the pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys. The gift was in honor of her stepdaughter, Rachel Kaminsky, a board member of the museum.

The gift fills a major gap in the museum’s collection of Renaissance-era work, which Director Matthias Waschek says “has traditionally been stronger in northern European works.”

The painting will go on view at the Worcester Art Museum on September 20, as part of the upcoming reinstallation of the museum’s Old Master galleries, which they’ve titled [remastered]. The exhibition will also feature works by El Greco, Rembrandt, Ribera, Ruisdael, Strozzi, and de Hooch.

Update: One of our astute commenters pointed out that there is a profile of Hester Diamond’s apartment online that includes a photo of the Veronese in its former home. All I can say is … no comment: