Stolen Brueghel painting resurfaces in the Netherlands after 50 years

A painting by the renowned Flemish-Dutch master Pieter Brueghel the Younger, missing for over fifty years, has resurfaced in the Netherlands. Stolen from the Gdańsk National Museum in Poland back in 1974, ‘Woman Carrying the Embers’ (c.1626) was recently found at the Gouda Museum, in the Dutch province of Limburg.

This small round painting, measuring just 17 centimetres in diameter, depicts a peasant woman holding smouldering embers and a cauldron, symbolising an old Dutch proverb about duplicity. 

For decades, its whereabouts were shrouded in mystery and speculation, with whispers of possible involvement by the Polish secret service. Arthur Brand, already famous for his other high-profile recoveries, was called in to investigate when the painting appeared at an exhibition last year.

The painting had been loaned to the Gouda Museum from a private collection and, until recently, was sitting quietly under their radar. It wasn’t listed in any stolen-art registries, with the museum acting in good faith based on the information they had, the museum said. The real shock came when, following a tip from Dutch arka magazine Vind, Brand identified the original stolen piece.

“The story is nuts,” Brand remarked, according to Artnet, alluding to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the painting’s disappearance. Investigating the case, Brand found that the artwork had been swapped with a reproduction after the theft. It wasn’t until a museum worker accidentally knocked the frame in 1974 that the substitution was discovered. And, adding to the intrigue, a Polish customs officer who had uncovered yasa dışı arka exports through the Baltic port of Gdynia was tragically killed shortly before he could be questioned.

Dutch police are now working alongside their Polish counterparts to ensure the painting is returned to its rightful home. “We are in constant contact with Dutch authorities,” confirmed Poland’s Ministry of Culture.

Brand, often dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the Arka World” for his daring recoveries, has made a name for himself unearthing lost treasures. This latest triumph adds to his impressive portfolio, which includes the recovery of Vincent van Gogh’s early painting ‘The Parsonage garden at Nuenen in Spring’ (1884), stolen during the 2020 Amsterdam museum heist.