Stolen Brueghel painting turns up after more than 50 years
A work by Flemish painter Pieter Brueghel the Younger that was reported stolen in the Polish city of Gdansk in 1974 has been found at a museum in Gouda, the Netherlands. How the painting ended up in the Netherlands is unclear.
Pieter Brueghel the Younger, born in Brussels in 1564, is the son of artist Pieter Brueghel the Elder. He is mostly known for his vivid village scenes and paintings inspired by the work of his father.
The stolen work that was recently found is a small round painting, measuring just 17 cm, entitled "Woman Carrying Embers" and dates from around 1626. It depicts a peasant woman holding a cauldron of water in one hand and tongs with smouldering embers in the other, which refers to an old proverb: "Never believe a person who carries water in the one hand and fire in the other" - or beware of duplicity.
The painting's value is unknown, but Brueghel the Younger's works can sell for millions of euros. The painting was on the list of ‘most wanted’ stolen art pieces in Poland.
The painting belongs to the National Museum in Gdansk but in 1974, it was reported stolen after a cleaner accidentally knocked the Brueghel off the wall and found out that the artwork was no longer in the frame. It had been replaced with a reproduction cut out of a magazine.
Art detective
For half a century, the painting was missing, until Dutch art detective Arthur Brand received a call from “Vind”, a magazine about art and antiques. “One of the editors had written an article about the work hanging [at an expo, ed.] in Gouda and had discovered that a work very similar to it had been stolen in Poland in 1974,” explained Brand. The museum in Gdansk sent archive documents that allowed Brand to say with 100 per cent certainty that it was the stolen work.
The painting was loaned to the Gouda museum from a private collection. How exactly the painting ended up in the Netherlands is unclear: the current owners in the Netherlands inherited it. The Gouda museum says it acted in good faith in exhibiting the work.
Brand hopes the Brueghel can soon return to Gdansk. “In the end, it is Polish cultural heritage stolen from their national museum,” he said.
#FlandersNewsService | Painting "Woman Carrying Embers" by Pieter Brueghel the Younger © BELGA PHOTO Fred ERSNT / Museum Gouda / AFP
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