the Netherlands
For fifty years, the work of the artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger was considered missing after it was stolen from the Polish museum in 1974. Recently, the painting was suddenly exhibited at the Goode Museum in the Netherlands. This was reported by the German publication De Telegraaf.
The canvas was on the list of the most sought-after stolen works of art in Poland. The author's other paintings, like this one, are valued at millions of euros.
Prehistory
Back in 1974, the painting frame fell to the floor after a museum employee touched it during cleaning. The curator approached, but was surprised to find that the frame contained not the artist's original work, but a photograph of the painting cut from a magazine. Also, the 17th-century drawing by Anthony van Dyck was replaced with a sheet of paper. Thus, two masterpieces were lost.
In September of last year, the famous art detective Brand, who has already returned hundreds of stolen works of art, was commissioned to find this work.
Finding
Walter Lensink of the art and antique magazine Vind published an article about the exhibition at the Goode Museum.
"One of the works presented there was a small painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger"
– says Brand.
According to the owner who wished to remain anonymous, his father bought the job from the gallery owner.
"I thoroughly researched the archives and database of the stolen art from Interpol and came to the conclusion that the painting in Gouda is the very one stolen by Brueghel from Gdansk," – Brand told De Telegraaf.
According to Brand, Polish authorities are preparing an international request to return the painting.
"The good thing is that the theft has no statute of limitations, as this crime was committed during the communist regime"
– Brand said.
Who is Pieter Brueghel the Younger?
Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638) is a Flemish artist known for his paintings on peasant and religious themes, as well as copies of his father, Pieter Brueghel the Elder.
Among his original paintings, "Hell with pots", "The Preaching of St. John the Baptist", "The Way of the Cross" are popular.