‘Winter’ and ‘Spring’ by Peter Brueghel the Younger

A pair of works long dismissed as low-value copies after a famous series by a famous Flemish artist depicting pastoral activities at different seasons of the year lay in the storerooms of the Ulster Museum.

They had been purchased as ‘by Peter Brueghel the Younger’ but were demoted in 1973 to ‘after Peter Brueghel the Younger’, i.e. thought to be later copies made by another artist.

With unsympathetic interventions in the 19th century and again in the 1950s and 60s, the two works on panel had suffered, and the paint was flaking. The first step was to consolidate the paint. After that, the varnishes and later overpaint were removed, revealing that artist’s original colours and compositions, and lovely details including chickens in the field of ‘Spring’ and a signature in the bottom right corner of ‘Winter’. Infrared photography captured the drawing lines from the artist’s original design. The treatment returned the pair of paintings to how the artist intended them. Our treatment helped to re-attribute the pictures as works by Peter Brueghel the Younger, making them the only publicly owned paintings by this artist in Northern Ireland.

Bendor said: “To have been able to restore these two gloriously detailed pictures to their rightful status has been immensely satisfying for us.”

PS: do you know your Brueghel from your Breughel? The Brueghel dynasty can be confusing to navigate. It starts with Pieter Bruegel the Elder, continues with his two sons Peter Bruegel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder, and then Jan Breughel the Younger, whose son Abraham Breughel is famous though lesser-known sons also painted. Jan Brueghel the Elder’s daughter married David Teniers. Confused by these names and their varied spelling? Have a look at this excellent article by Christie’s on what each one is famous for and why their spellings differ.