BBC Four series Britain’s Lost Masterpieces discovers two more paintings in Ulster museum
Two paintings by the Flemish Old Master artist Peter Breughel the Younger have been discovered in the store-rooms of the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
Published: 11 October 2016
We can now say, for the first time in decades, that the people of Northern Ireland now own works by one of the great names of art history
The paintings, previously described as copies, were discovered by the art historian Dr. Bendor Grosvenor whilst searching through the new online database of the UK’s publicly owned paintings, Art UK. They were then researched and restored for new BBC Four series, Britain’s Lost Masterpieces, presented by Dr. Bendor Grosvenor and the curator and art historian Jacky Klein.
The programme reveals that they can be described as works by Breughel himself and are now the only publicly owned paintings by Breughel the Younger in Northern Ireland.
Painted in 1633, the two pictures show ‘Winter’ and ‘Spring’, and would originally have been part of a set of Four Seasons, a popular subject for Breughel the Younger based on the work of his father, Peter Breughel the Elder. A set of all four seasons by Peter Breughel the Younger sold at Christie’s this July for in excess of £6m.
The paintings in Belfast were given to the museum in 1906 by a local publican, William ‘Bullseye’ Braithwaite. Although recognised during the early 20th Century as works by Brueghel the Younger, doubts about the attribution were raised after the pictures were extensively ‘restored’ in the 1960s. Attempts to cover areas of damage to the wooden panels left large areas of the painting, including details such as a field of chickens and sheep, covered in over-paint.
Now, careful conservation, carried out in the programme by the restorer Simon Gillespie, has allowed the Breughel’s all-important original details to be seen once more. Infra-red analysis has also revealed that the pictures were created with the same distinctive type of under-drawing found in works by Breughel the Younger.
Dr. Bendor Grosvenor says: “To have been able to restore these two gloriously detailed pictures to their rightful status has been immensely satisfying for us. We can now say, for the first time in decades, that the people of Northern Ireland now own works by one of the great names of art history, Peter Breughel the Younger.”
Britain's Lost Masterpieces (3 x 60) on BBC Four is presented by Dr Bendor Grosvenor and Jacky Klein. It is produced by Tern TV and was commissioned by Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning, BBC. The Executive Producer for the BBC is Emma Cahusac. The series is produced in partnership with Art UK.
Notes to Editors
Art UK, previously called the Public Catalogue Foundation, is a small charity. It works in partnership with some 3,000 public collections, the BBC and other organisations to showcase the art the UK owns.
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