“Indiana Jones of the Art World” helps the police resolve the mystery of a famous picture that disappeared from the 1974 Museum

Dutch police say they broke into a mysterious disappearance of Brueghel’s painting from the Polish Museum more than 50 years ago. Authorities say the case was finally resolved with the help of journalist Arts IA Famous artistic detective.

“A woman who wore a woman,” also known as “a woman moving fire,” and was painted by the Flemish master-none master Pieter Brueghel younger about 1626, disappeared from the National Museum in Gdanska during the Communist Time around 1974.

It caused numerous rumors – including involvement at the time of the Polish secret service – a spy novel into the story.

It was thought that a round painting, which measured only 6.6 centimeters, was disappeared forever.

But the stolen picture is currently under locking and key at the Museum in the Dutch province of Limburg, said Richard Bronswijk of the Dutch Police Unit for Crimes.

“We are 100% sure that this is the same picture that disappeared from the National Museum in Gdanska back in 1974,” Bronswijk told AFP.

“Indiana Jones from the art world”

Arthur Mark, The famous Dutch artistic detective, said the doubts were first raised when journalists from the leading Dutch art magazine “Vind” noticed a picture in the Dutch exhibition last year.

Bold as “not seen for the last 40 years,” the picture was borrowed from the Gouda Museum from a private collection.

“The associate of the magazine, John Brozius, did some research and came across an article on the Polish website with an old black and white picture,” the AFP brand told the AFP.

“The article referred to the theft that took place in Gdanska in 1974, which stole two works of art:” Crucifixion “, Anthony’s Sketch Van Dyck and the younger paintings of Brueghel,” he said.

“Although people from Vind were not sure, it looked quite similar to Brueghel, who was exposed in Gouda,” Brand said.

The picture shows a peasant woman who holds kings with crowds in one hand and a boiler of water in the other, a reference to the old Dutch proverb: “Never trust a person who carries water and shooting in the other” or watching for two.

The value of the picture is not known, but Brueghel younger works are mostly sold for millions, according to the Christie’s auction house.

The brand, the nickname “Indiana Jones of the Art World” for his high recovery -stolen pieces, was called for help.

“That’s a match!”

Together with the Dutch police, the brand explored the identity of the painting, which was transferred to the Venl Museum, the South Netherlands in the meantime.

The brand also examined the Interpol database, which in Brueghel’s picture threw out a “database warning”.

“I concluded that the picture listed by Interpol and she was one and the same at the exhibition,” he told AFP.

“We checked and checked again, including information on the back of the picture. It’s a match!” added bronzewijk.

Dutch police have informed the Polish authorities, which are expected to apply for legal assistance, Bronswijk said.

Neither the Dutch museums nor the Polish authorities were immediately available for comment.

Theft was discovered on April 24, 1974, when a museum worker accidentally overthrew Brueghel from the wall.

“Instead of the original work of the famous Flemish painter, the reproduction cut from the magazine dropped out of the frame,” the stolen Polish art expert Mariusz Pilus wrote in “Arts Sherlock” 2019.

For days after the discovery, the Polish customs officer who reported on illegal exports of artwork through the Baltic port of Gdynia, it is said that he was set up and killed, shortly before the police were interviewed.

An investigation into the death of a customs officer and disappearance of the paintings were closed shortly after, according to Polish reports.

The Dutch police are now investigating that the picture eventually ended up in a private Dutch collection.

The brand said he hoped that Brueghel’s painting could soon return to Gdansk, “to be exposed to the museum, where he belongs.”

The brand achievements include Returning Vincent van Gogh Painting at the Museum 2023, more than three years after it was stolen.

2022 returned the Roman statue that was stolen from Musee du Pays Chatillonnais in 1973. He also recovered the “adolescence” of Salvador Dali, Picture Picasso and “Hitler’s Horses”, a sculpture that once stood in front of the Nazi Berlin Office.

The 2017 artistic detective said “CBS Mornings” He compared bids With terrorist groups, mafia and a series of shadowed characters to find pieces in the black market.

“On the one hand, you have police, insurance houses, collectors, and on the other hand you have criminals, art thieves and falrees. So there are two different types of worlds, and they don’t communicate. So I put myself in the middle,” Brand said.

contributed to this report.