Painstaking work to attribute painting<\/p>\n
The piece Osiecki discovered, titled Still Life with Small Game and Grapes on a Gilded Tazza, had once been believed to be the work of Ambrosius Brueghel, a member of a famous family of artists in Antwerp, Belgium. It was later reclassified as “anonymous” and sent to storage.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, however, it was officially reattributed to Peeters, a painstaking journey spanning several years, Osiecki says.<\/p>\n
A journey that wouldn’t have begun if not for her keen eye. <\/p>\n
When she first discovered painting, Osiecki found some telltale clues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786569249_763_default.jpg\")
Another piece by Clara Peeters, created in 1621, called Still Life with fish, a candle, artichokes, crab and prawns that hangs in the Prado. (Museo del Prado)<\/p>\n
Along with being one of the earliest specialists of still-life painting of her era, Peeters was known for embedding her own likeness into everyday objects in her works. She did this by painting tiny self-portraits in the shiny surfaces of pewter jugs, fruits or vegetables \u2014 subtly claiming ownership and asserting her own professional identity in a male-dominated world, Osiecki says.<\/p>\n
The Oslo painting features nine dead birds \u2014 considered a delicacy in the 17th-century, Osiecki says \u2014 freshly-picked hazelnuts and apricots.<\/p>\n
The grapes, in particular, stood out to Osiecki.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our grapes, there is a reflection of a person, but it\u2019s not in any way as detailed as those silhouettes are on other paintings by [Peeters’] hand,\u201d said Osiecki.<\/p>\n
Then there were other details that caught her eye \u2014 the tazza, a saucer-like drinking vessel from the period that Peeters frequently featured in her paintings \u2014 as well as the distinctive positioning of the birds within the composition, Osiecki says.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Why he\u2019s scouring the art world for his great-great-grandfather\u2019s lost paintings:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786569250_739_default.jpg\")
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Why he\u2019s scouring the art world for his great-great-grandfather\u2019s lost paintings<\/p>\n
Jonathan Wener has spent half a century searching for his great-great-grandfather William Raphael\u2019s lost artworks. The 19th-century Montreal artist made paintings depicting life in Quebec during that time, but Wener says his ancestor didn\u2019t get the recognition he deserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also knew that many of her contemporaries were using the same objects in Antwerp [Belgium] at the time,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I had to tread very, very carefully to make sure it really was Clara Peeters and not me wanting it to be Clara Peeters.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was also another hitch: woodworms had eaten away at the bottom edge of the painting where Peeters would have typically signed her name. <\/p>\n
Despite this, Osiecki remained determined to ferret out the true artist behind the piece. She and her colleagues spent several years studying and comparing other works by Peeters and her contemporaries, she says. The museum’s conservator cleaned the Oslo piece and took better pictures, she adds. Slowly, but steadily, the process confirmed the attribution: Peeters was the painter. <\/p>\n
Now the painting is set to take centre stage at the Oct. 8 show.<\/p>\n