This painting, with documentation, was brought to me by descendants of Antwerp art historian Prof Max Rooses, who depicts the huge panel in his book Rubens’ Leben und Werke. I still have the massive gold-blocked velour-backed tome he published in 1890.
Back in 1979 I had other museum-quality works by Dutch, Flemish and Spanish 17th Century masters, some from private collectors. Robert Noortman [art dealer and TEFAF Maastricht co-founder] came up to see Susanna… and we thought it a studio work rather than an autograph work, and without question not a later ‘school’ copy.
It is gratifying to see our opinion vindicated by the £564,000 price, and to learn of other Euro Art Centre masterpieces being well received. I still regret parting with Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s signed and dated 1611 The visit to the farm, a magnificent Simon Peter Verhelst flower painting and the signed and dated St Sebastian by Sebastián de Lanos y Valdés (1664).
Keith Piggott
East Sussex
