Researchers from Nijmegen have discovered a painting by painter Jeroen (Jheronimus) Bosch. One of them is professor in art history Jos Koldeweij. The painting is called ‘De verzoeking van de heilige Antonius’ (‘The temptation of Saint Anthony’), and is owned by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Until now, experts assumed this work was made by one of Bosch’s apprentices or followers. It was discovered during research from the Bosch Research and Conservation Project. During the press conference yesterday, Radboud art historians Jos Koldeweij and Matthijs Ilsink presented the work to the press and public. They revealed it at the end, and immediately showed it in the next room.

The discovery is the highlight of the research program, in which art historians analyzed and documented all paintings and drawings Bosch made. The story of the discovery of ‘The temptation of Saint Anthony’ begins in 2014. ‘During our research, we got e-mails from people who claimed they owned an undiscovered Bosch every week,’ Ilsink says. ‘But an e-mail from Rob Bergmans, an amateur researcher, sparked our attention. He wrote that this one had to be made by Jheronimus Bosch.

Deadline
The work had been in the depot of the Nelson-Atkins Museum for decades, without a name on it. ‘We did not immediately respond to Bergman’s e-mail, because our priorities lay elsewhere. At the last moment – the deadline for our catalogue was approaching – we received a travel grant from Radboud University, so we could go anyway.’

Infra red
The research team had photographed all of Bosch’s works – also in infrared. Ilsink: ‘This way, we can see the things that Bosch did draw initially, but never painted over. You can follow the painter’s creative process.’ All the data, ten terabyte worth of photo’s, could easily be analyzed with a unique digital infrastructure. Soon, researchers found that the ‘under drawings’ on the work in Kansas City were identical to the kind that was found in other paintings. So: this had to be a work by Bosch. Because of this, the researchers firmly state that ‘this is a small, but important contribution to Bosch’s works.’/ Tim van Ham

You can see the painting from February 13 in the Noordbrabants Museum in Den Bosch. Because of the 500th anniversary of Bosch’s dying day, twenty of his works are on display there. It is the first time that this many paintings are visible in the same exhibition.