Unprecedented discovery of an artwork by Jacques Jordaens!
Published on 08.12.2020
A painting of the utmost importance by Antwerp Baroque Master Jacques Jordaens (1593-1678) has been discovered at the Saint-Gilles City Hall in Brussels. This unprecedented discovery by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) has come to light during an inventory commissioned by urban.brussels in 2019.
The artwork, which had been considered a mere copy, had remained undisturbed in the Town Planning and Development Counselor’s office for about 60 years. The precious wood panel has now been authenticated as the oldest known version of a composition of the « Holy Family » which Jordaens reiterated in three other panels conserved at the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of New York, Saint-Petersburg’s Hermitage, and the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
The 400-year-old Holy Family discovered in Saint-Gilles will benefit, within the KIK-IRPA, from a one-year restoration campaign financed by urban.brussels. At the end of 2021, the artwork will be shown to the public with all its original brilliance and vibrant colors at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. There it will find its place within one of the largest Jacques Jordaens collections worldwide.
