Jan & John Maggs Antiques

An Unfinished Story

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We found this oil painting in another dealer's booth a couple of years ago while setting up for a show in suburban Boston. It was quite dirty, but the vivid imagery shone through the grimy film, and we and our restorer agreed that it would benefit greatly from a good cleaning. Weeks later, when we drove to his studio to collect the piece, we were greeted by this stunning scene; the grey sky was now a rich blue, billowing clouds extended to the horizon, and the ships in the foreground were identifiable.

But it was the cluster of buildings, the details of the pier in the foreground that drew us into the scene. We were especially curious about the large, diagonal beam, apparently mounted on a huge iron wheel, that projected over the wall, and the amber colored tower behind it.

The painting was purchased last year by two regular customers, one of whom had spent considerable time in Italy. She felt that the seaport was Venice, a supposition that we had no reason to question.


In August we delivered a Chinese altar table to upstate New York. The buyer invited us into his home and, during the course of conversation I noticed this painting on a table. At first I was drawn to it out of curiosity, but as I looked more carefully, it became obvious what had drawn me to it. It was the same scene.

This second painting was and still is as dirty and in need of a good clean as ours was, but the essential features of the first - the cloudy sky, the ships, and the port itself - were clearly alike. We surmised that one or, more likely, both were copied from some original. A few prolonged Google image searches have yielded nothing.


And then, only a week ago, walking through the splendid galleries of the Worcester (MA) Art Museum, we came upon this painting. Although it isn't identical, it bears enough similarities to the two we've been allowed to touch to perhaps narrow the search a bit.

The caption reads: PORT SCENE IN VENICE, about 1600. Jan Breughel the Elder. Flemish, 1568 - 1625. Oil on copper. 



The story is far from finished, and we invite any of our readers who can share additional background on this fascinating subject, we will share it with the owners of the first two paintings and with the readers of our monthly newsletter. Please email if you can add to the story.

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