In 2002, a painting was presented to the Atelier voor Restauratie & Research van Schilderijen (ARRS) with the request to investigate the authenticity of the work. The owner asked for this research because documentation on the painting was limited to a summary provenance of the object: just a few letters by painting experts.
We decided to draw up a rigorous research plan. The first thing to do was to determine if we were dealing with a painting ‘from the period’. Once this had been confirmed, we decided how to proceed with our investigation into the maker of the painting. This book is the record of that ‘road to authentication.’