Paul Bril landscape at Woolley and Wallis
A previously unknown landscape painting by the celebrated Flemish landscape artist Paul Bril (1554–1626) has been discovered in the UK, marking a major addition to the oeuvre of one of the most influential painters in late 16th/early 17th century landscape painting in Italy and Northern Europe.
The painting was brought in for valuation at Woolley and Wallis auctioneers in Salisbury and had been miscatalogued by another auction house. Woolley and Wallis art specialists Victor Fauvelle and Ed Beer spotted certain features in the work that led them to the discovery. Ed Beer said: “The coastal landscape had all the hallmarks of a work by Bril; the luminous skies, rhythmic composition and delicate atmospheric depth. The painting stood out straightaway as something special.”
This prompted further investigation by Victor, who learnt of the painting’s composition through a copy, which was noted as being offered for auction in Paris (Delon-Hoebanx, 12 October 2023, lot 19). The Paris work was offered with a pendant, which itself reproduced Bril’s Italianate Landscape, with a hawking party approaching a villa, which sold at Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 2003, lot 10. It is thought that the present work and the Sotheby’s painting were hanging as pendants when the copyist made their versions.
This pivotal finding led to a consultation with Drs. Luuk Pijl, the world’s leading expert on the artist Paul Bril. On examining the present painting, Pijl was able to confirm that it was indeed an original work by Bril and excitedly emphasised its historical importance. The painting was previously unknown to Bril scholarship and has never been recorded in any existing catalogues or academic publications. It will now be published in Luuk Pijl’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Bril’s work. Described by Pijl as: “the most influential landscape painter of his generation”, he commented: “the present coastal landscape is a fine and significant addition to a small group of oil on canvas harbour landscapes painted on canvas by Bril (his early works were painted on copper). None of the small group of harbour landscapes were dated, but in the context of Bril’s overall stylistic development, a date of 1610-1615 is feasible for this painting.”
Specialist Ed Beer said: “Paul Bril was one of the most important landscape painters working in Rome around 1600. Born in Antwerp, he brought Northern precision to Italianate views and his richly atmospheric landscapes had a formative influence on later masters, including Jan Brueghel the Elder, Adam Elsheimer and Claude Lorrain. Bril was also a favourite of the Papal court and received commissions from several popes, decorating the Vatican Palace and other major Roman landmarks.
This rediscovered painting sheds new light on a transitional period in Bril’s career, revealing his growing interest in classical narrative and the poetic potential of landscape. The work has never before been exhibited or published and we expect it to attract strong institutional and private interest at auction.”
The painting encapsulates a natural harbour on the Mediterranean coast, with fishermen and merchants on the shore. It comes from the private collection of the Charrington family of Winchfield House in Hampshire and carries an estimate of £15,000-£20,000. It will be offered in a sale of Old Masters, British & European Paintings at Woolley and Wallis on September 3, 2025.