A recently discovered painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger was revealed to the public at Frieze Masters in London this week. Old Master dealer and discoverer of the painting, Johnny Van Haeften, believes that the work is a reinterpretation of a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the artist’s father. The first version of the painting, created in 1566, resides in the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

The Census at Bethlehem was first purchased in 1611 by a collector at Brueghel the Younger’s studio in Antwerp. For hundreds of years the painting remained in the possession of the same English family and although the owners knew of the work’s pedigree, they never publicized their important holding. In the 1940s, the painting was brought to Africa with other family possessions and eventually loaned to the family of Lord Delamere. In an unexpected twist, Van Haeften discovered the painting in Africa, as offshore trustees of the Delamere family now own it.  

The Census at Bethlehem sold for $10 million during the first few days of Frieze.