Shedding light on 'Ecce homo'

Big thanks to Rev John Jackman at the Comenius Foundation, who contacted me this week to share details of the reserach that they did to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the 'Ecce homo' painting which inspired Zinzendorf as a young man. From John's email:

"We did a fair amount of research to identify that this was the actual painting. It is currently in the Bayerische Staats Museum in Munich. Incidentally, we had to pay a pretty hefty fee for permission to use the licensed photo image in the documentary.

It is the painting that formerly hung in Dresden. Dominico Feti cranked out many copies of the "Ecce Homo" a number of which survive in various museums around Europe. They are each a little different. It was apparently a "moneymaker" for him that sold well. His own personal life is not necessarily an exemplary one, and he died fairly young.

We did some research into the Sternberg story, which seems to be pretty spurious and appears about 100 years ago without any documentation or references. The art historians we worked with could find to record of a painter named Sternberg (or Stenburg/Steinberg as it sometimes appears) and of course the fact that the little is named (usually "Pepita") in the story is really suspicious. It seems to be a well-intentioned and much-repeated sermon illustration without basis. I'm sorry to say that many pastors (particularly it seems those who take the Bible
"literally") are very free with the purportedly factual stories they pepper their messages with.

Incidentally, I am just now finishing up production of a feature film on John Wesley that might be of interest -- see http://www.founderypictures.com/

Blessings in your work and faith, let me know if we can help with anything in the future!"