Magistrates of Brussels [SEP] creator
Magistrates of Brussels
Magistrates of Brussels was a 1634-5 oil painting by Anthony van Dyck. It was destroyed in the French bombardment of Brussels in 1695. Its composition is known from a grisaille sketch in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which Van Dyck prepared to show how he planned to lay out the work.
Van Dyck was paid 2,400 florins for the painting in 1628, intended for Brussels Town Hall. It was painted in a period when Van Dyck had returned to the Netherlands.
was shown only in outline. The work was then confirmed as van Dyck's by Christopher Brown, a noted authority on the painter.
Mould thought that the painting was probably a preparatory sketch for Van Dyck's 1634 work "Magistrates of Brussels", which was destroyed in the Bombardment of Brussels in 1695. Its composition is known from a sketch, in the in Paris, which van Dyck prepared to show how he planned to lay out the piece. Another three sketches of magistrates' heads for the same work,