France, rare painting by Brueghel the Younger found behind the door of a house

He could not believe his eyes Malo de Lussac, an expert at the small auction house Daguerre Val de Loire, who was called to estimate a painting owned by a French family, when he saw before him the work for which he had been summoned. What he found before him, hanging behind the door of a house in northern France, was a rare painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (Brussels, 1564 - Antwerp, 1638). It is a version of L’Avocat du village (“The Village Advocate”), a theme Brueghel reproduced up to 90 times. It is believed to have been painted between 1615 and 1617: the work, which measures 112 cm high and 184 cm wide, had belonged to the same family since 1900, but its provenance before then remains a mystery.

Telling the story is the Guardian, which also gathered statements from Lussac: “In the family it was known as ’the Brueghel’ but they had no idea it was real. They thought it was a copy, a painting that did just a bit of decoration and must not have been worth much. Then, when we sent it to Germany for an appraisal that confirmed it was a genuine Brueghel, and they realized the importance of what they had, they asked us to photograph them in front of the painting they had been living with all those years. It was both funny and moving.” De Lussac added, “It is one of those unique once-in-a-lifetime discoveries. It is a very unusual painting in terms of its size and the fact that it is in exceptionally good condition.”

Pieter Brueghel the Younger, born in Brussels, was the eldest son of 16th-century Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. His younger brother Jan Brueghel the Elder was also a painter. Brueghel the Younger painted landscapes, religious subjects (including various depictions of hell), village scenes, and flowers, but he was also a prolific copier of his father’s more popular works. The Village Lawyer is one of his rare original compositions and shows a chaotic scene with villagers queuing in the lawyer’s rooms, many of them holding gifts including eggs and poultry.

In addition to signed and dated versions of this painting, there are also dozens of similar works that are not verified as having been produced by Brueghel or his workshop. An authentic version of the painting dating from about 1617 is on display in the Louvre. The newly discovered Brueghel will be sold next March 28 at the Drouot auction house in Paris, one of Europe’s leading auction houses, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. The estimate? 600-800,000 euros. Not bad for a work considered until recently a mere family heirloom.

Image: Pieter Brueghel the Younger, L’Avocat du village (1615-1617; oil on canvas, 112 x 184 cm)

France, rare painting by Brueghel the Younger found behind the door of a house

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