“Superb” 500-Year-Old Religious Painting Discovered in a Guernseyan Private Collection

A 500-year-old religious artwork from Pieter Coecke van Aelst’s workshop in Flanders was found in a private Guernsey collection. Next month, Martel Maides Auctions will be the venue for the triptych’s auction.

The picture, which is divided into three panels, shows the Adoration of the Magi, in which Saint Joseph is portrayed on the right and Balthazar is on the left, as the three wise men present presents to Jesus after realizing he is the son of God.

According to Jonathan Voak, an expert in paintings at the auction house, the find was “exceptional and unique.” “Very few documented paintings by Pieter Coecke van Aelst have survived,” the statement continues.

Coecke van Aelst was a painter, sculptor, architect, designer, and translator who was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1502. In 1527, he became a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke, where he was commissioned to create several projects, one of which was the stained glass windows at Antwerp Cathedral.

Under his guidance, a big workshop was run by Coecke van Aelst’s helpers. It’s not clear who would have created this piece—the artist, his assistants, or both.

But according to Voak, the work “is unique with its own peculiarities, not a copy or replica” and “bears a close resemblance to others ascribed to him.” One such instance is how he included the wings into the main composition.

At the Martel Maids sale on March 7, which will also feature four early 17th-century old master drawings attributed to the circle of Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, the artwork is anticipated to cost between £150,000 and £200,000 ($190,230 and $253,640).

Private collection sales have increased in Guernsey as a result of the discovery of a lost Constable, which sold for £200,000 in 2023.