Recently rediscovered van Dyck sold for millions

09/02/2023

A recently rediscovered painting by Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck was sold at an auction for over 3 million US dollars.

The painting in question, which had been purchased by the previous owner for a mere $ 600, was a study for a painting called St. Jerome and was found in a New York barn shed.

It was not long ago that the painting was identified as a Van Dyck, but it’s connection to his painting of St Jerome is “unmistakable” according to Sotheby’s, the auction house that sold the painting.

The Antwerp-born Anthony van Dyck is considered one of the greatest Flemish Baroque painters, an impeccable portrait artist and assistant to the legendary Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens, of course, is considered the creator of the northern Baroque style of painting.  

Van Dyck’s most famous works include Portrait of a Flemish Lady (1618); Crowning with Thorns (1619-20); Portrait of Isabella Brandt (1621); Portrait of Marie-Louise de Tassis (1630); Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1630) and Charles I with his family (1632).

The Flemish painter’s oeuvre can be discovered all across the world and in various Belgian museums, such as the KMSKA in Antwerp, the MSK in Ghent and the Old Masters Museum in Brussels.