0:00:02 > 0:00:0518 million, 500,000, 19 million. At £4 million...
0:00:05 > 0:00:09The art world, a place of outrageous fortune.
0:00:09 > 0:00:1195, selling at 95 million.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14But beneath the surface lurks danger.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18I probably turned out about 200 fakes over a six, seven year period.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21You were committing fraud on a grand scale.
0:00:21 > 0:00:27International art dealer Philip Mould uncovers sleepers, pictures with a secret past.
0:00:27 > 0:00:33Now he's bringing his detective skills to solve more mysteries locked in paint.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35In the past, we looked AT pictures.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Now almost, you can look THROUGH them.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40I'm Fiona Bruce. As a journalist, I'm used to hunting for facts.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44We're teaming up for a new series of investigations.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Our latest case takes us into new territory
0:00:47 > 0:00:50as we hunt for a painting hidden within a painting.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52There's something going on under here, isn't there?
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Philip is staking his reputation on what might be the find of his life.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02I've lost the ability to look at it critically.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05You know, I feel like a mother with her baby. I mean, I...
0:01:05 > 0:01:07I can't see it as anything other than beautiful.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12It's a portrait of a tragic queen, Henrietta Maria,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15wife of King Charles I.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Could it be the work of Sir Anthony Van Dyck,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20the man who revolutionised English art?
0:01:20 > 0:01:24He's like a film director. It's almost as if he's just shouted, "Action!"
0:01:25 > 0:01:27To unravel the mystery,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30we must peel back layers of paint in search of a lost masterpiece.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34Has something gone terribly wrong? It looks a right old mess.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, please!
0:01:50 > 0:01:53I love the excitement of chasing down a story.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01And working with art dealer Philip Mould has introduced me to a new world of intrigue.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08This time, it's his own painting which is wrapped in mystery.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13Philip's called me to an unusual location where he promises all will be revealed.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Philip, what's this all about? Why do you want me to meet you in a hospital?
0:02:20 > 0:02:25- Well, thanks for asking! I'm fine, but I have a patient who needs help. - THEY LAUGH
0:02:25 > 0:02:27She's a woman with a predicament.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29She's more than just your average woman.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33- She's the Queen of England, Henrietta Maria.- Charles I's wife.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36It's a lovely painting. Beautiful face.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38But why have you brought her to a hospital?
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Well, I believe there's more going on in this than first meets the eye.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Here we go again!
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Art dealers and doctors aren't such unusual bedfellows.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52In the days before portable X-ray units,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55this was where you came to get your paintings scanned.
0:02:56 > 0:03:02To help with MY diagnosis, we're using one of the most sophisticated X-ray machines available.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Once the real patients have had their turn,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08radiologist Anton Ivanic is on hand to help.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Do you get many patients like this, Anton?
0:03:10 > 0:03:12A first for everything!
0:03:14 > 0:03:18So what are we looking at here? Is this the edge of the painting?
0:03:18 > 0:03:22What we're seeing here is something I really hoped we were going to come across.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24But as clear as a bell, you can see
0:03:24 > 0:03:29a 90 degree angle of the corner of a smaller canvas.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31In other words, this picture is not as it seems.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35This is the edge of a picture within the painting?
0:03:35 > 0:03:36Exactly.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40And if you have a look at the inner canvas, the darker one,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42it's slightly earlier, in my view.
0:03:42 > 0:03:43It's a bit cruder.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48But why would anyone want to take a smaller portrait and make it bigger?
0:03:48 > 0:03:49I mean, just for cosmetic reasons?
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Possibly, but we won't really know until we have a closer look
0:03:53 > 0:03:55at what might lie beneath.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Because in the process of putting the smaller canvas into the bigger canvas,
0:03:59 > 0:04:04it's quite possible they have painted over what lies therein.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Wow, so not only is there a painting within a painting,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11- this smaller painting could be of something different?- Exactly.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17It turns out Philip is hoping that this is what he calls a "sleeper".
0:04:19 > 0:04:24A sleeper is an object that passes mis-catalogued through the auction rooms into the hands of someone
0:04:24 > 0:04:28who knows its real identity. Either the subject has been overlooked
0:04:28 > 0:04:30or the artist has been misunderstood.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34On the bottom of my screen, Anton,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38I can see something that looks quite interesting.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Is there any way of moving in a bit closer?
0:04:45 > 0:04:46Yes!
0:04:46 > 0:04:48So what is that? What's...?
0:04:48 > 0:04:50What are we looking at here? What's going on here?
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Those are all brush strokes, and it's describing a different type of shape,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56possibly a different type of composition.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02The first hint that this picture might hide a secret came when Bendor Grosvenor,
0:05:02 > 0:05:08Philip's eagle-eyed head of research, spotted it online in an auction catalogue.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11It was catalogued as after Sir Anthony Van Dyck,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15the estimate 4-6,000. And I just saw it in the catalogue, and being a Van Dyck anorak,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19I just wanted to check what we were dealing with here.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21And the first thing I noticed was
0:05:21 > 0:05:25how much better painted the face was than the body.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29The body made no sense at all. Awful hands, awkwardly painted clothes,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31but the face still shone out.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38So there's two mysteries here - why was this smaller painting enlarged in this way?
0:05:38 > 0:05:42As we can see. And what actually this smaller painting is of.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44What lies underneath the paint that we can see now?
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Well, I know you've accused me in the past of being over-optimistic,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52but my hunch is that is that there's a possibility
0:05:52 > 0:05:56that lying beneath is a genuine work
0:05:56 > 0:06:00by the greatest portrait painter at work in the 17th century - Van Dyck.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04We have to think carefully
0:06:04 > 0:06:06about how much we're going to commit to buying a sleeper.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09You can very quickly spend a lot of money,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13but nothing drives an art dealer forward like optimism and hope that they think they've found the big one.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Like all speculations at that stage,
0:06:17 > 0:06:24we couldn't be sure, and I gave Bendor an amount to bid on.
0:06:24 > 0:06:25What I think he doesn't know is that
0:06:25 > 0:06:28I was particularly excited about this picture
0:06:28 > 0:06:30and I was going to go some way ahead of what we'd agreed.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35'£7,000 on the telephone. At £7,000...
0:06:37 > 0:06:40'Last chance. 7,000 and selling.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41'7,000.'
0:06:41 > 0:06:45That's Bendor's happy face, in case you were wondering.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50His and Philip's shared passion for Van Dyck means they've bought
0:06:50 > 0:06:54multi-million pound works by the artist, including his self-portrait.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- Even on the floor, it looks amazing, doesn't it?- Mm.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01This Flemish painter spent less than ten years here,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03but he revolutionised British art.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07He painted King Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria
0:07:07 > 0:07:11in a tumultuous age just before the Civil War.
0:07:11 > 0:07:17Only a few years later, the King was executed outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall,
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and Henrietta Maria, reviled for her Catholic faith, was exiled,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24mourning her beloved husband.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Van Dyck captured the dramatic, flamboyant spirit of the age.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30No wonder art dealers get excited about him!
0:07:32 > 0:07:38At Philip's gallery, we've met up with Bendor to get to the bottom of their latest high-stakes gamble.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41£7,000 sounds like a lot of money to me.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It's about the right price
0:07:43 > 0:07:47for a picture that's a copy done, possibly, who knows,
0:07:47 > 0:07:48a century later.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52But there's more to this picture. You'll recall the X-ray.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56It showed there was a smaller image beneath.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59If I bring up the X-ray over the part of the picture here,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02you can see that there's parts of the brush strokes
0:08:02 > 0:08:04that match the painting on top.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07But there's other brush strokes, if I bring those up,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09which make no sense at all to the painting on top.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14So it suggests to me that there's another painting underneath.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- Do you have any idea what it could be?- We have an inkling.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Well, the first thing I noticed when I saw the picture in the catalogue
0:08:19 > 0:08:22was it's unusual for a portrait of Henrietta Maria.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27She's normally facing the other direction, and she never usually wears a crown.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30This is a full-length of her with her servant.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34And this is a picture at Chequers, the prime minister's house.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36But then I remembered that some years ago,
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Philip had sold another picture of Henrietta Maria where she's looking the same way.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44- And she's also wearing a crown. - Oh, I see.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48So the head's the same? But the body, obviously, is different.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54Yes. In other words, the blue dress is painted over the original composition.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Hang on a minute though, this was sold at a major auction house.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00And you spotted it, what, and no-one else did?
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Well, of course, we could be wrong.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06And also, I mean, it is comprehensively hidden in my view.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Here's where it gets a little bit complicated.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Going back to our X-ray again, can you see in the bottom right corner
0:09:13 > 0:09:15there's a dark shadow going up?
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Now, it happens to go up in the same place as the arm in the picture
0:09:19 > 0:09:22that Philip sold before. So that suggests to me that
0:09:22 > 0:09:26underneath our painting is another arm, going in the same place.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28So you think, what,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32- it's going to be exactly the same painting?- Yes.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35This composition is known in at least seven paintings.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39But they're all copies. And I've got four of them here.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Crucially, none have been accepted as a genuine work by Van Dyck,
0:09:43 > 0:09:48so there must be an original from which all of these derive.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54So you think the painting you've found could be, what,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57this lost original Van Dyck?
0:09:57 > 0:09:59And then someone's painted over it? Why would they do that?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03I mean, it's not uncommon. Sounds bizarre, but people did paint over pictures.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07Thing is, though, normally when we look at paintings,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09we're looking at other people's paintings.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12This time, we're looking at YOUR painting you've bought with YOUR money.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15So we're going to have to approach this in a rather different way,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19because you have so much to gain, and, conversely, so much to lose.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23So, you know, we can't just take - in the nicest possible way - just take your words for it.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27We're going to have to bring in an independent expert, at the very least, to have a look at it.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32I mean, that's crucial. I mean, we would want to do that
0:10:32 > 0:10:35any time that one is trying to re-present a major new work of art.
0:10:35 > 0:10:36We've got to have the connoisseurs.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38But I hope you'll treat me gently on this.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure! This will be the toughest of scrutiny, Philip.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Well, it's got to be, though, hasn't it? It absolutely has to be.
0:10:45 > 0:10:51And first of all, can we find out if there actually is something underneath this painting?
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Well, we need to do some tests.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03I'm taking the painting to University College London to Libby Sheldon,
0:11:03 > 0:11:08a specialist in paint analysis with a keen interest in Van Dyck.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Usually, when I look at paint samples,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15I'm hoping to confirm a particular period or perhaps detect a fake.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19This time it's a little different.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22What I'd like to find are samples that show two completely different layers of paint -
0:11:22 > 0:11:26one painting on top of another.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29What I'm looking for are cracks in the paint
0:11:29 > 0:11:32in order to be able to take minimal samples.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34That's interesting.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37So, you're actually examining or taking a sample from an area
0:11:37 > 0:11:40where nature has already started, as it were.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47Libby's taking microscopic samples from the paint layers on the canvas.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53They'll be preserved in resin blocks,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55each block cut and polished by hand,
0:11:55 > 0:11:59so she doesn't lose any of the precious paint.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04At the same time, she's taken some minute flakes of individual colours
0:12:04 > 0:12:08to find out precisely what pigments have been used.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13The first discovery comes from the face - a blue called azurite,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17typical of the early 17th century and frequently used by Van Dyck.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22But Libby's next find is from what I believe to be the later paint.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Well, I can see some very distinct blobs of blue.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Yes, it's from the upper painting, from the dress,
0:12:30 > 0:12:31and it's Prussian blue.
0:12:31 > 0:12:37And it has a very secure date, because it was produced after 1704.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39That's really nice clarity.
0:12:39 > 0:12:45So we're looking at something that was at least done 50 years after Van Dyck dies.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50- So that really clearly establishes that the dress is much later. - Exactly.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54What we've got here is a sample from her shoulder,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59and it shows quite clearly the Prussian blue on the top.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02And then a layer between that and a lower layer,
0:13:02 > 0:13:07which is translucent layer, probably varnish, probably an old varnish.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11And underneath that a mixed red.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16In other words, two pictures - the picture on top and another picture beneath the thing
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- we've been looking for.- Exactly.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Now armed with this evidence, I can't wait to get to work
0:13:23 > 0:13:26revealing that hidden painting.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28What are you planning to do next?
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Well, as they say in the trade, there is a brilliant clean in this.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35We know that already because we've done a small test in the top right-hand corner,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37on the outer area.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40The area which we'll probably discard if all goes well.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Now, keep that in mind,
0:13:44 > 0:13:45look at the face of Henrietta Maria
0:13:45 > 0:13:49and see what the changes that could be brought about might be there.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54But the thing is, you've got to take the paint off...
0:13:54 > 0:13:59The, what, 18th-century paint? ..to reveal, you hope, 17th-century paint below that.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02How are you going to take one layer of paint off and not the other?
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Cor, you know how to ruin my fun, don't you?
0:14:05 > 0:14:09That's the really difficult bit, and that's the bit I'm genuinely extremely worried about.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14I mean, getting 18th-century paint off 17th-century paint,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18and it's like taking a layer of one type of rock off another.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20I mean, it's extremely difficult.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22So, is it worth it?
0:14:23 > 0:14:29If this were just any 17th-century picture lying beneath, I would probably say no.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31But look at the stakes here.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34I mean, we have the opportunity, possibly,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38to get to the greatest artist at work in England in the 17th century.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41You know, Sir Anthony Van Dyck! I mean, not just England, but Europe.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45In this case, it's a risk worth taking.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50So off goes Queen Henrietta Maria to Rebecca Gregg,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54a conservator experienced in such challenges.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59She's agreed to take on the arduous task of stripping first the varnish
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and then the 18th-century paint.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07It is such a such a beautiful image, isn't it?
0:15:07 > 0:15:11I mean, regardless of anything else, that dirt, that varnish
0:15:11 > 0:15:16was obscuring so much that one just couldn't even see
0:15:16 > 0:15:18and couldn't even feel.
0:15:18 > 0:15:24These discoloured varnish layers always obscure any modelling and completely flatten the image.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29So they destroy the character, really, of a portrait.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34It's like rediscovering a new person when you clean it off.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38Now for the point of no return. Time to put Henrietta Maria under the knife.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40OK, so this really is the moment of truth now.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44So we're going to be taking off that rock-hard 18th-century paint.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48And with a prayer, we'll get to a 17th-century layer.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Yeah. It's the most tricky thing that you could possibly do, really.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00I mean, of course, the other thing that occurs to me is
0:16:00 > 0:16:03you have to keep really focused over a long period of time.
0:16:03 > 0:16:10I mean, this is open heart surgery over not just a day or few days, but weeks, months!
0:16:10 > 0:16:15Yes, the safest way to remove anything like this is to simply go down layer by layer.
0:16:17 > 0:16:23Rebecca is using a solvent gel which breaks down the top layer of paint.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It should allow her to remove the 18th-century layer
0:16:27 > 0:16:30without damaging what might lie beneath.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33It requires perfect timing and a steady hand.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Here we go.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49That is definitely pink that's coming through!
0:16:49 > 0:16:54That's presumably part of the wrist or the hand that's covered by the blue dress!
0:16:54 > 0:16:57It is, and it's great to have a distinct change in colour.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01I have to say, Rebecca, you know, watching this is compelling,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03but it's also extremely stressful.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06I think it's probably about time I left you to it, actually.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14I've got a long wait ahead of me. It will take MONTHS of work
0:17:14 > 0:17:16to remove the vast expanse of overpaint.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Standing behind Rebecca's shoulder has been the most uplifting experience.
0:17:23 > 0:17:30I'm now absolutely positive that emerging from beneath the grime are the strokes of Van Dyck.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34I mean, they're incontrovertibly of such quality, I really can't see why they're not.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Bold claims from Philip, but what will the art world make of it?
0:17:44 > 0:17:49Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal, is intrigued.
0:17:49 > 0:17:55Well, let's suppose that when this is cleaned, that out pops
0:17:55 > 0:18:01what looks very much like an authentic, an autographed Van Dyck.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05How seriously will everyone take it? Well, there are problems.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09If it's a dealer presenting it to the world as an authentic Van Dyck, obviously,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13many, many people are going to say, "Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?
0:18:13 > 0:18:15"He wants it to be a Van Dyck."
0:18:15 > 0:18:18And so, to a certain extent, he's got a battle on his hands.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24One of the risks of being in the sleeper-hunter business is you tend to annoy a lot of people.
0:18:24 > 0:18:30You irritate the person who sold it, you irritate the auction house who missed it,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33you irritate your fellow dealers who didn't spot it.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38So you've got a whole host of people who are lining up to take a kick at you if they think you're wrong.
0:18:38 > 0:18:44He must get it authenticated or accepted by what are still called independent scholars.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48And that means academics, people who don't give their opinion for money.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Who knows, IF there is a whole Van Dyck underneath,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55that would be a sensation.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05To show me just what all the fuss is about,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Philip's brought me to Wilton House,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11home to a spectacular collection of art charting the history of English portraits.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15This is the sort of portraiture that people
0:19:15 > 0:19:19were used to in England before Van Dyck arrived.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Simplified and oddly static.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26- And rather wooden.- Yes.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32'Wilton's grandest room was designed by the 4th Earl of Pembroke,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34'one of Charles I's most powerful courtiers,
0:19:34 > 0:19:39'specifically to house the paintings of Sir Anthony Van Dyck.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42'It includes his largest and most ambitious work.'
0:19:43 > 0:19:44Wow! Gosh!
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Isn't it incredible? This expresses in one great statement
0:19:54 > 0:19:57just what Van Dyck brought to England.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01How he just transformed the whole way we see ourselves.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Wow, it is...epic.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14He's like a film director. It's almost as if he's just shouted "Action!"
0:20:14 > 0:20:20You know, everyone's beginning to move, everyone has a role and a purpose, and they all lock together.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23So in the centre, OK, we've got the Earl and his wife.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26The Earl looking every inch the powerhouse.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31And you can see on the stage, moving towards the Earl and Countess,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34the two elder brothers. This is where the future dynasty lies.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38And do you notice how their father is pointing down
0:20:38 > 0:20:41in that very indicative way to that ultimate prize?
0:20:41 > 0:20:43This is a portrait of Lady Mary Villiers,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47who was ward of court of Charles I. Effectively, an adopted royal child.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51If I'm not mistaken, that's Charles I and Henrietta Maria
0:20:51 > 0:20:54flanking either sides of the painting.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Why are they here in relation to Van Dyck?
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Because that's why Van Dyck came over here.
0:20:59 > 0:21:06His job is to create images to bolster not only the King,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08but his consort Henrietta Maria.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10In a way, he portrays them
0:21:10 > 0:21:13as they would like to be portrayed to the nation.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17And that's the whole point about Van Dyck.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Charles I and Henrietta Maria are a perfect example of people
0:21:21 > 0:21:25who do look slightly idiosyncratic. Very slightly strange.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30Yes, her niece described her as having teeth that protruded like "guns from a fort"!
0:21:30 > 0:21:31- I love that description.- Yes.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34But the thing about Van Dyck, the reason people liked him,
0:21:34 > 0:21:39was that he could catch a face with its best expression on it.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43These are all believable individuals,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47but they're individuals at their most elevated, at their most powerful.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56I mean, it's been estimated that he produced something like
0:21:56 > 0:21:59400 pictures, paintings, portraits while he was over here.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02The demand for images of the royal family
0:22:02 > 0:22:05and for replicas of other portraits, even people like the Pembrokes,
0:22:05 > 0:22:11was so much that he had to use a sort of delegation process
0:22:11 > 0:22:13which is called the studio practice.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17I mean, it was physically impossible for one man
0:22:17 > 0:22:20to be able to produce that amount of work.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25So, could you own a Van Dyck by degrees, then?
0:22:25 > 0:22:28So, have a painting that's done entirely by the great master,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32one that's done, what, partly by him, partly by his assistants,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34then ones done entirely by his assistants?
0:22:34 > 0:22:37And then ones that weren't by anyone to do with Van Dyck?
0:22:37 > 0:22:40- Was that how it worked?- Precisely.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43And there were some patrons, there were some clients,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47who insisted that Van Dyck did it all himself.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Today, it's the hand of the master that makes all the difference,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56not just in the quality, but also the value of a painting.
0:22:56 > 0:23:02Pure Van Dycks are known as "autograph". They can be worth millions.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Works created by his assistants are known as "studio" Van Dyck,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10and copies made by other artists as "after" Van Dyck.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14It can take a trained eye to tell them apart.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18- Where does your Henrietta Maria fit into this spectrum? - She's looking interesting.
0:23:18 > 0:23:25Some results have come through from Rebecca, and you can see now that the varnish has been removed.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28And beneath, we can see quite good quality brush strokes.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30In fact, I'd even go further.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33I would say some very exciting paint strokes.
0:23:33 > 0:23:39Now, with any luck, this could be a real, pure, 100% Van Dyck.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Wow. So you could gain MASSIVELY from this picture.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46And what about the history of the painting? Have you found out anything about that?
0:23:46 > 0:23:48As I've said before,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51the back of the picture can tell you more than the front.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55On the back of this picture, we have got quite a few possible clues.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58All sorts of labels and stickers and things scribbled on the back.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02I've had a little bit of luck with this one on the right-hand side here.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06There's a chalk date and that links to the stencil on the top.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09The picture was sold at Christie's in 1956.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14And there, it was actually called Van Dyck in full, but the identification,
0:24:14 > 0:24:19rather unhelpfully, was just "Portrait of a lady in a blue dress".
0:24:19 > 0:24:24So it could be that this picture hasn't actually been called Henrietta Maria for hundreds of years.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Great. What about who sold that painting?
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Well, it was consigned by a lady called Mrs Kingsley,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34and here's her name on a label at the back of the picture.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37But the picture didn't actually sell, and went straight into storage afterwards.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40And who was she, and who did she buy it from?
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I'm afraid there, I haven't got a clue.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Well, this is a massive problem, isn't it?
0:24:47 > 0:24:50We always bang on about the importance of documentation and provenance
0:24:50 > 0:24:51and you've hardly got any.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53But you can't always get provenance for an Old Master.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55It's not like dealing with an impressionist.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58We're dealing with something 300 years old or more.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03That's all very well, but for a painting that was painted in the 1600s,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I'd like to go a bit further back than 1956!
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Well, I may be able to help you there,
0:25:08 > 0:25:13because there's two further clues on the back of the picture. I don't know if you can see at the top,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17there are these two little labels which are partly covered by another piece of paper
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and also partly ripped off.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22But I reckon we may be able to peel these off and hopefully they can
0:25:22 > 0:25:25tell us a little bit more about the picture's history.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30And we're also aided by the fact that there are a number of copies, replicas, variants.
0:25:30 > 0:25:37Now, if you take that line of enquiry, look into some of those, might come up with a few answers.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41All right, well I'll start from the 17th century and work forwards.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46- You're going to start from 1956 and work backwards.- Mm-hmm.- Who knows, we might meet in the middle!
0:25:46 > 0:25:49We might indeed.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00Bendor has set Rebecca the challenge of uncovering the mysterious labels
0:26:00 > 0:26:04which could be the key to discovering our painting's history.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08- Hi, Rebecca.- Hi. - Now then, these labels.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10If we can't get these off,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14that's my last chance of finding anything out about the provenance and history.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18- SHE GIGGLES - Sorry, no pressure, then!
0:26:18 > 0:26:23Yeah, no pressure(!) It looks like someone else has already tried to have a go.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25- I mean, we've got lots of rips and tears here.- Mm.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28- Well, it looks like they've just tried to remove them entirely.- Yeah.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Well, let's at least hope that it reveals something
0:26:32 > 0:26:34before 1956 and perhaps in the 19th century.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39Well, the older, the better. The older the glue, the more degraded, and the easier it is to come off.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Well, it looks pretty ancient, so fingers crossed.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Rebecca applies a pad saturated with water,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54slowly soaking the labels in the hope that they can be peeled off.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Meanwhile, I've been doing some research on Henrietta Maria,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02and found she was a controversial queen.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08This French princess arrived for her marriage in England aged just 15,
0:27:08 > 0:27:13with a mission from the Pope to convert Protestant England and the King to Catholicism.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16An explosive ambition.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20Now, I want to know why our picture might have been painted over,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25and I'm on the trail of the image Philip and Bendor believe lies beneath.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28It seems this painting might contain hidden messages.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33There's a later copy of the picture at Queen's College, Oxford,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and historian Dr Erin Griffey is going to help me decode it.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40What's it tell us about Henrietta Maria?
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Well, in my mind, it is the most significant portrait
0:27:43 > 0:27:47in terms of understanding what really mattered to the Queen.
0:27:47 > 0:27:53And, certainly, at the heart of her sort of personal identity, was her devotion to religion.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Her Catholicism.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57It is an incredibly unusual image of her
0:27:57 > 0:28:01in that she's shown as the St Catherine.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03And who was St Catherine?
0:28:03 > 0:28:08St Catherine was a princess who was tried for her faith, for her Christianity,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11- on the Catherine wheel and when... - Which was a form of torture, wasn't it?
0:28:11 > 0:28:15Which was a form of torture, but such was divine providence,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18the wheel didn't work, the wheel broke,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22and by touching the wheel, Henrietta Maria's showing God's favour.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25And presumably, she relates to it or she related to it
0:28:25 > 0:28:29because she was a Catholic in a Protestant country,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32she was a lone voice, as this St Catherine was.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37- A lone Christian voice.- Yes. - In a world of pagans, as she saw it.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42Absolutely. She's clearly likening herself to Catherine in her ability
0:28:42 > 0:28:48to create conversions at court from very principled courtiers.
0:28:48 > 0:28:54- Which was hugely unpopular.- Hugely unpopular, and it rattled the King's advisers and even the King himself.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58- So this is a very controversial image, then.- Yes, absolutely.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01It's a kind of brazen proclamation of her Catholicism?
0:29:01 > 0:29:04- Yes.- Other than the Catherine wheel,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07what other symbolism is there in this portrait?
0:29:07 > 0:29:12Well, the most important thing may seem self-evident, but it's actually very interesting.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15She's wearing the coronet.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18Keep in mind, Henrietta Maria was never crowned, because she refused
0:29:18 > 0:29:24to be crowned in a Protestant church, in a Protestant ceremony.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27- It's a piece of propaganda, isn't it?- Absolutely, yes.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31It was never clear to me why Philip's painting of Henrietta Maria
0:29:31 > 0:29:36would've been overpainted quite so comprehensively.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39But it's clear to me now that it's not so much a portrait of a queen
0:29:39 > 0:29:43as a piece of Catholic propaganda, and even by the time we get to the 18th century,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46that's still very controversial, very inflammatory,
0:29:46 > 0:29:52and having a portrait of the queen is one thing, but having an image like that is quite another.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56And certainly, it's at least one very good reason why that painting
0:29:56 > 0:29:58would've been painted over in that way.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00Back in London Philip's received images
0:30:00 > 0:30:04of what's starting to emerge from under the later paint
0:30:04 > 0:30:06and it looks like he was right.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10I've got some photographs through on the progress of the picture
0:30:10 > 0:30:13and I have to say, fingers crossed,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16it's looking exactly as I'd hoped.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21You can see very clearly what is a piece of anatomy, her forearm,
0:30:21 > 0:30:24the forearm that sort of leans on the Catherine wheel.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25and that's a slice of it there
0:30:25 > 0:30:31and it's exactly the right place and the type of colour I'd have hoped
0:30:31 > 0:30:33and then just below the forearm,
0:30:33 > 0:30:37where it's revealed, a little bit to the left, is a flash of red.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43A brilliant little flash of red, it looks like a sort of uncut ruby,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46a sort of stone that has yet to be polished.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50Now that is unquestionably the beginning of the drapery,
0:30:50 > 0:30:55that really rich attire that defines the image. You know,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58she, she's a very ornate-looking queen.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05The back of the painting is also revealing its secrets.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Bendor and Rebecca are within a whisper of uncovering those labels.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11They may tell us who once owned the picture.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13We can just about do it.
0:31:15 > 0:31:16Hey we're off.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22- Fantastic, I can see...- A dragon. - I can see a dragon.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24Definitely part of a coat of arms.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Very clear, isn't it?
0:31:28 > 0:31:31- Yes, well, you can see where it's been protected from the dirt.- Yes.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Nothing underneath.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34Oh...swizz!
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Looks like we're not going to get any more motto.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43But we've got the rest of the crest.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50We just need the faintest scratch of an address on that one.
0:31:50 > 0:31:51What have we got?
0:31:51 > 0:31:53- Not much, is the answer. - Not much.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57We've got the end of an H and a comma and that's it.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59Nothing at all.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04Just take this second upper label off now.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Right, here we go. Anything after the H?
0:32:06 > 0:32:10- Restorer.- Restorer! Fantastic!
0:32:10 > 0:32:13H, comma, restorer.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17- 1820. - Maybe they were established in 1820.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21And one deduces that it's a short name, ending in H.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24In fact, hang on, so it must have been...
0:32:26 > 0:32:27..a very short name.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34The only dealer I can think of with a short name ending in H is Smith.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36I know that sounds like a really common name,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40but one of the biggest art dealers in the 19th century was John Smith.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43And he was also based in New Bond street
0:32:43 > 0:32:47and it looks like, it says here, NE for New
0:32:47 > 0:32:49and ET, ending for Street.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54So, um, that'll be my first place to look, I think.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04Back in Oxford, I'm hoping to match Bendor's progress
0:33:04 > 0:33:06on the labels in my own quest.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Erin has brought me to the Bodleian Library
0:33:09 > 0:33:12to search for the original portrait of Henrietta Maria
0:33:12 > 0:33:15in the 17th-century records of the royal palaces.
0:33:15 > 0:33:22'This is an inventory compiled in 1639 by the keeper of pictures,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Abraham van der Doort.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28And he went through the royal palaces
0:33:28 > 0:33:32and created an incredibly detailed list
0:33:32 > 0:33:36of the pictures and precisely where they hung,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39which room and in the margins,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43he also often mentions the provenance.
0:33:43 > 0:33:49For example this is, "Item, the Queen Mother of France picture
0:33:49 > 0:33:50"so big as the life."
0:33:50 > 0:33:55So this is very typical of van der Doort's entries
0:33:55 > 0:33:57for these various pictures.
0:33:57 > 0:34:02- "Done..." Oh! "Done by Anthony Van Dyck."- Right.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05It says "Done by Anthony Van Dyck beyond the seas."
0:34:05 > 0:34:08This is a picture he would've done in Antwerp or in Italy
0:34:08 > 0:34:12and if you look at the right-hand margin,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15these are the dimensions of the various pictures,
0:34:15 > 0:34:17so with Philip's picture, what we'd really like to find
0:34:17 > 0:34:20is a very detailed reference
0:34:20 > 0:34:23saying, Van Dyck, a portrait of Henrietta Maria
0:34:23 > 0:34:26- as St Catherine. - Well, is it here? No!
0:34:26 > 0:34:30Frustratingly, it is not here!
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Is the Henrietta Maria portrait in any inventories?
0:34:33 > 0:34:37Unfortunately, not explicitly.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41There is nothing by that description in any inventory
0:34:41 > 0:34:42that I have consulted.
0:34:42 > 0:34:48There are several instances of portraits of Henrietta Maria
0:34:48 > 0:34:51by Van Dyck in the 1650s and 1660s.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Which could be our painting,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55but they're so unspecifically listed, we can't tell.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58Exactly, that is absolutely possible.
0:34:58 > 0:34:59How frustrating.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06Things aren't going much better for Philip.
0:35:06 > 0:35:07He's working abroad,
0:35:07 > 0:35:11and he's just received disturbing news from Rebecca, the restorer.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15It's the end of a busy day here in Hamburg
0:35:15 > 0:35:18and I've just had an e-mail from Becky.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20She's halfway through the conservation,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22the first stages of conservation.
0:35:22 > 0:35:23The alarming thing is
0:35:23 > 0:35:26it looks as though some of the paint has been damaged.
0:35:26 > 0:35:27I'm not sure why or how.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31It's difficult to make sense from these images.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33I wish I wasn't hundreds of miles away from home.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35I wish I was there with Becky in the studio now
0:35:35 > 0:35:39trying to make sense of what's coming to light.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43I suppose at least I can console myself that the head is beautiful,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46but goodness knows what's emerging
0:35:46 > 0:35:48from beneath the rest of the painting.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55I'm heading back to London as soon as I can.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57I'm not sure what Rebecca has revealed,
0:35:57 > 0:36:01but it could be an expensive disaster.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04A few days later, Philip calls me to the gallery.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06He's had some time to examine the picture
0:36:06 > 0:36:09and thinks he's made a dramatic discovery.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Has something gone terribly wrong?
0:36:15 > 0:36:17This is not looking good, is it?
0:36:17 > 0:36:19And here.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22The first thing you've got to realise
0:36:22 > 0:36:25is you're looking at the patient halfway through the operation,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27before it's been stitched up.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31I think the patient is critical, by the looks of things.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Well, I'm going to need to explain it a bit then.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36I mean, when Rebecca sent me images of this
0:36:36 > 0:36:38as it was beginning to emerge
0:36:38 > 0:36:42and I was looking at an area, like this around the hand,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44I mean, they terrified me when I first saw them,
0:36:44 > 0:36:48because we hadn't removed enough around them
0:36:48 > 0:36:53for me to gain an impression of anything other than the fact
0:36:53 > 0:36:56that we were revealing a damaged, a wrecked picture.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00Well, looking at the hair, I mean, that looks pretty damaged.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04Yes, certainly there is a tiny bit of damage in the hair
0:37:04 > 0:37:07and you can see it in the lines, running across.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08That's mechanical damage.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11But the really exciting and important point is
0:37:11 > 0:37:13as you move your eye down the hair
0:37:13 > 0:37:17you can see unfinished areas, drawing lines.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20In other words, this is an unfinished picture,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24a picture to which the artist perhaps would one day return,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27although I need a lot more paint to be taken off
0:37:27 > 0:37:31before I get a real understanding of the balance of what's finished.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33Well, it's not looking great, I've got to be honest.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36I know you think I'm just putting a brave face on this,
0:37:36 > 0:37:40but for me, at least, an unfinished picture
0:37:40 > 0:37:44that shows you the artist's process,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47that gives you a sort of, a glimpse into the mind
0:37:47 > 0:37:50of a great figure like Van Dyck, if it is by Van Dyck...
0:37:51 > 0:37:54..is to my mind more interesting
0:37:54 > 0:37:57and in really, in another way more appealing,
0:37:57 > 0:38:00particularly to a sophisticated 21st-century audience,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03who actually likes to know how artists work.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Oh, Philip! Come on, I mean, if you had the choice
0:38:06 > 0:38:09between it being finished and perfect and by Van Dyck
0:38:09 > 0:38:11or being a, you know half-finished version,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14I mean, obviously you'd go for a finished version, course you would!
0:38:16 > 0:38:20I'm feeling quite vulnerable, actually, to tell you the truth.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24I mean, I'm working with Fiona, she's keeping me focused
0:38:24 > 0:38:27on the real issues. I'm doing my best to persuade her
0:38:27 > 0:38:31and at the same time, I think, possibly persuade myself as well,
0:38:31 > 0:38:36but what's different about this is I'm giving people access
0:38:36 > 0:38:38to a process that's normally very much behind closed doors.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43And if I do get it wrong, in a very provable way,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47well, it doesn't, it doesn't do my reputation much good
0:38:47 > 0:38:50and I, and I rather, sort of, pride myself,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53at least sometimes, on getting it right.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58I've never seen Philip looking so worried.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01The painting's obviously got to him.
0:39:03 > 0:39:04If the painting is unfinished,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08it might explain why our picture was painted over.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12It also makes removing the over-paint much more difficult.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15The restoration process has changed.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18No more solvents. It's just scalpels and water.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23Jo Gorlov has joined Rebecca for this slow, difficult work.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27Meanwhile, Bendor's been working on the provenance of the picture.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30I've failed to trace it in the 17th-century documents,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33but can HE find that vital link to Van Dyck's time?
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I've come to the National Art Library to see how he's getting on.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41- Hi, Bendor, how are you? - All right. Thanks for coming along.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43So what have we got here?
0:39:43 > 0:39:46We've got the labels which we peeled off the back of the picture.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49So this is, what, a dragon here, isn't it?
0:39:49 > 0:39:50I think it may be a wyvern.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52A wyvern. That's a new one to me(!)
0:39:52 > 0:39:55- You've got to learn your heraldry! - Right! Come on, then.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57I'll give you a crash course in heraldry.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00So what we can do, we've got two tiny fragments of a word
0:40:00 > 0:40:02from the beginning of a motto underneath,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- which has then been torn out. - "Par sit."
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- That's not a lot to go on, is it? - No.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10So, we've got a general armoury,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14which will allow us to look up the mottos
0:40:14 > 0:40:16- that begin with... - Par sit.- ..Par sit.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Here we go. Par sit...
0:40:18 > 0:40:20Par sit fortuna labori.
0:40:20 > 0:40:21And these names here
0:40:21 > 0:40:24are what, three families for whom that is their motto?
0:40:24 > 0:40:25Exactly.
0:40:25 > 0:40:30So we've already nailed it down to Buchanan, Lowman and Palmer.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34So what we need to do now is find out which one of those three
0:40:34 > 0:40:37had that rather scary-looking bird as their main crest.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40This is Burg's peerage here. Right.
0:40:42 > 0:40:43- Let's have a look. - Have a gander.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47- Buchanan, Buchanan, no, this is not it.- No?
0:40:47 > 0:40:49Lowman? No. Right, P for Palmer.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53This is our only chance. Here we go, same motto.
0:40:53 > 0:40:54Oh, I see.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57- Family motto, Palmer of Carlton. - How extraordinary.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Rather fortunately, this coat of arms label
0:41:01 > 0:41:05was stuck on top of this label, the restorer.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08Now we've only got the fragment of the H to go with,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11but you can just about make out 137...
0:41:11 > 0:41:13- New something street.- Right.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Well, the dealer Smith, John Smith was at 137 New Bond Street.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18- SHE GASPS - Bendor!
0:41:18 > 0:41:20If you think about it, we're so lucky,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23because from all these fragments we've got just enough information
0:41:23 > 0:41:27- to go there. - That is incredible.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31Fortunately, the firm of John Smith, which worked in England in the 19th century,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33kept everything in stock books and notebooks,
0:41:33 > 0:41:35some of which we've got here.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36OK, come on then!
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Right, so we've got all his clients listed. Major Corbett,
0:41:39 > 0:41:40Mrs Bacon...
0:41:40 > 0:41:42HE MUMBLES
0:41:42 > 0:41:47- Right, the Reverend F Palmer. - "Sold, the Reverend F Palmer..."
0:41:47 > 0:41:50Oh! "Portrait of Henrietta Maria."
0:41:50 > 0:41:53- Henrietta Maria.- July 26th...
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Mmm. We're in 1888.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Gosh, fantastic.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02So we've found an owner for our painting 120 years ago,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05The Reverend F Palmer, and we know who he got it from.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09The question is, can we go even further back
0:42:09 > 0:42:13and find out who Smith, the art dealer, bought the painting from?
0:42:13 > 0:42:15So, in the few years before Palmer bought it,
0:42:15 > 0:42:20we can see if Smith... had a picture,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23so we'll start here in 1884.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26Search as we might, our picture isn't recorded here.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28The trail goes cold in 1888.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31- Nope, it ain't there.- Oh...
0:42:31 > 0:42:34- It was looking promising for a moment.- You've done brilliantly.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37I mean, it's such a clever and neat piece of detective work.
0:42:37 > 0:42:38It's now, I feel,
0:42:38 > 0:42:43- we're just so close just want to get that bit further back.- Yeah.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47So with no provenance to help link the painting to Van Dyck
0:42:47 > 0:42:49it's time to go to Philip's gallery,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52to see what more the picture itself is revealing.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56This is the picture, largely stripped down.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59It certainly has come an incredibly long way
0:42:59 > 0:43:03when you compare it to what it was and you still think it's unfinished?
0:43:03 > 0:43:05Yes, because Rebecca and Jo
0:43:05 > 0:43:08have uncovered more of the unfinished area round the hand.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12You can see the bold brown under drawing outline around the fingers.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15And you're certain you've not just taken too much paint off?
0:43:15 > 0:43:19Look, I know that's what you think, but it's not the case
0:43:19 > 0:43:23and nor is it the case that the picture beneath
0:43:23 > 0:43:25that we're revealing is destroyed.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Have a look at the hair.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30That's the real tell-tale to me.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Why? Because you can see the red drawing lines on the edge.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37This is like looking at a sort of stripped-down engine,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39this is the first stage of the technical process
0:43:39 > 0:43:42of putting together a picture. That's not damage.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44And the fact that it's unfinished, then,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47is that a good thing or a bad thing?
0:43:47 > 0:43:50I think the fact it's unfinished is quite helpful here,
0:43:50 > 0:43:51because we know what we're seeing
0:43:51 > 0:43:54matches Van Dyck's described technique.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57He used to use this translucent brown umber paint
0:43:57 > 0:43:59to draw in the outline of his compositions.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04Crucially, though, if the picture was unfinished,
0:44:04 > 0:44:06it could not have left his studio during his lifetime,
0:44:06 > 0:44:09he would never have licensed that.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11Well, that's why I wondered
0:44:11 > 0:44:13if we might find some hint of our picture
0:44:13 > 0:44:14in Van Dyck's estate,
0:44:14 > 0:44:17his possessions, the list of the pictures he had after he died.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Sounds intriguing.
0:44:19 > 0:44:20Can we?
0:44:21 > 0:44:24Yes, because there's a number of lists recording
0:44:24 > 0:44:26what Van Dyck had in the studio after he died.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29And in this one, it says the Queen Mary's picture,
0:44:29 > 0:44:31which means Henrietta Maria.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34One of them, it says quite interestingly
0:44:34 > 0:44:36"conceived to be an original"
0:44:36 > 0:44:39by Sir Anthony Van Dyck, valued at £20.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43There's another one, again of Henrietta Maria, valued at £4,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46so it's an interesting distinction even then between the value
0:44:46 > 0:44:50of what's thought to be an original and then a workshop copy.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52So which might your painting be, then?
0:44:52 > 0:44:54The £20 original or the £4 copy?
0:44:54 > 0:44:58There's only one way of telling, and that's the painting's quality.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04So, we might have taken our picture all the way back to Van Dyck's studio,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07but, frustratingly, it's not enough.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12The painting's authenticity will now rest solely on how it looks.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17I want to talk it over with the man in charge
0:45:17 > 0:45:20of some of Britain's most important paintings.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24He won't be drawn on Philip's picture, but he does have
0:45:24 > 0:45:28the delicate job of deciding the authenticity of many Old Masters -
0:45:28 > 0:45:32Nicholas Penny, Director of the National Gallery.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36He's brought me to see a work by Van Dyck's favourite artist, Titian.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40So this is The Vendramin Family by Titian,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44one of the most famous paintings by Titian in the National Gallery.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46The one thing I think has changed,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49at least in my understanding of this painting,
0:45:49 > 0:45:51is that it's not in fact entirely by Titian.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Oh, I see, so it came to you as a Titian,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57and you've decided to downgrade it?
0:45:57 > 0:45:59A little bit - I think it's one of the greatest things he painted,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02but I don't think he painted all of it.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04The children, for me, are a real problem,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07especially the three on the left.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10They're quite awkward, those faces, aren't they?
0:46:10 > 0:46:12I mean, siblings do look alike,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15but it's very unfortunate they've all got this terrible chin,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19and it seems to me to be not painted from life.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21And, above all,
0:46:21 > 0:46:25I think those three figures really damage the spatial effect.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28Now, what interests me about this is Van Dyck owned this painting.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Charles I wanted to own this painting.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35It was one of the big prizes of the international art market
0:46:35 > 0:46:37in the first half of the 17th century,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41and for centuries it was just the great family painting by Titian.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43And I suppose no-one wanted it not to be completely by Titian.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Well, I think it's really important for it not to be,
0:46:46 > 0:46:50because it doesn't do him justice to think that those are by him,
0:46:50 > 0:46:56so I'm on Titian's side when I put "Titian and workshop" on the label.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59We're looking at a Van Dyck and trying to assess
0:46:59 > 0:47:02whether or not it is actually by Van Dyck.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06These kind of decisions come to you on a pretty frequent basis.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09What would you need to see to convince you?
0:47:12 > 0:47:16Primarily, it would be a question of the artist's style.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18So, when it comes to provenance and science,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21those would be eclipsed by just what it looked like?
0:47:21 > 0:47:23It would have to be, because this painting
0:47:23 > 0:47:27is one of the best authenticated Titians in the world.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30It was described as a Titian in Titian's lifetime,
0:47:30 > 0:47:34and we know exactly where it's been every moment since,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36and always described as a Titian.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39And yet, you say it's not entirely by Titian, despite all that.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43The best bits of it have got to be by him.
0:47:43 > 0:47:44So, when it comes to this Van Dyck,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47it would come down to connoisseurship, in your view,
0:47:47 > 0:47:51and even though - with the best will in the world -
0:47:51 > 0:47:53connoisseurs do change their minds, that's...
0:47:53 > 0:47:57so frustratingly, in my eyes, that's what it would come down to.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59I think it would come down to that, I really do, yes.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07The end is in sight.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12Jo and Rebecca have been working for four months removing the over-paint.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16Finally, the picture beneath is fully exposed.
0:48:22 > 0:48:23Wow!
0:48:23 > 0:48:26This is so much better than last time I saw it.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30It's like there's a window in the middle of the canvas
0:48:30 > 0:48:33and a completely different woman is looking out of it.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35It must have been a hell of a lot of work.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39Over 500 hours and over 1,000 scalpel blades.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42I mean, she's truly been under the knife.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44- What do you think of it now? - To tell you the truth,
0:48:44 > 0:48:46I've lost the ability to look at it critically.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49I feel like a mother with her baby. I mean, I...
0:48:49 > 0:48:52I can't see it as anything other than beautiful.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54Is there much more to do?
0:48:54 > 0:48:58There are still areas of over-paint that need to be removed.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00And there's lots of tiny little specks of paints
0:49:00 > 0:49:04and some tiny little losses which are all taking the eye,
0:49:04 > 0:49:08but at least we can see what we're dealing with now, roughly.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11I mean, we're looking at it through very misty glass.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16I mean, I've never taken on such an ambitious campaign as this.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19I mean, it's...
0:49:19 > 0:49:21Well, it's so rare in the business.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27First, we've got to get the picture back to its original size,
0:49:27 > 0:49:31so I've sent it to be relined by Lucien Ray.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34It's a pretty dramatic process,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38which starts with tissue being glued to the front of the picture.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43The old stretcher is removed...
0:49:43 > 0:49:46and the unwanted edges cut off.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52The later canvas layers are scraped from the back
0:49:52 > 0:49:55to allow a new banking and a stretcher to be added.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59Then the painting returns to Rebecca's workshop,
0:49:59 > 0:50:04and the long task of restoring the paint surface begins.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Finally, after six months, the painting is finished -
0:50:12 > 0:50:14and just in time.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17Henrietta Maria has to look her best for a very important visitor
0:50:17 > 0:50:21who's coming today Britain's leading expert on Van Dyck.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26So, here we are, six months on.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29I have to say, she's looking pretty good.
0:50:29 > 0:50:30You like her now, do you?
0:50:30 > 0:50:34The face was always beautiful, and now it is even more beautiful.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37I have to say, I'm absolutely delighted with the way that
0:50:37 > 0:50:40that face has come together, and also other aspects of the picture.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44And it's funny, because your emotions go up and down like a yo-yo during restoration,
0:50:44 > 0:50:48and there were moments I thought, "Oh, my God, she's not going to make it.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52"She's not going to be the woman we think she is."
0:50:52 > 0:50:55But I have to say, now... now I believe she is.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57We have one of the great independent experts
0:50:57 > 0:51:00who's going to be coming along any minute to look at this painting.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04There's so much at stake, isn't there?
0:51:04 > 0:51:06How much have you spent, first of all, on this?
0:51:06 > 0:51:08You were totting it up, weren't you, Bendor?
0:51:08 > 0:51:10I think we're close on £25,000.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12- So, that's what, £25,000 for the restoration?- Yeah.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14And how much did you pay for her?
0:51:14 > 0:51:16- Just over £7,000.- Right, OK.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20And also, we put on a rather magnificent frame.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22- So, 32 grand, plus frame. - Plus frame.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27If it turns out that this, in the view of our independent expert,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30is a Van Dyck studio...
0:51:30 > 0:51:32How are you going to feel about that? Is that a disaster?
0:51:32 > 0:51:35No, I think I'd be satisfied with that.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37And, as to value,
0:51:37 > 0:51:41well, for a studio work of this quality,
0:51:41 > 0:51:42we could be talking £200-£300,000.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45And if it's Van Dyck and studio?
0:51:45 > 0:51:48What kind of value would we be talking there?
0:51:48 > 0:51:51I think we could be talking very high hundreds,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54possibly even to the million pound mark.
0:51:54 > 0:51:59And if he says it's not by Van Dyck and not even studio...?
0:52:00 > 0:52:06If this is deemed to be just a copy, it's a thumping loss.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09I mean, we couldn't get anything like what we paid for it.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12Well, he's going to be here any minute,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15- so, feeling nervous?- Yeah.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17OK, I admit it, I'm concerned.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23It all rests on one man -
0:52:23 > 0:52:28Director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Britain's top authority
0:52:28 > 0:52:31on Van Dyck's English works, Dr Christopher Brown.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34He's studied the artist for over 30 years,
0:52:34 > 0:52:35curated important exhibitions,
0:52:35 > 0:52:38published some of the definitive books,
0:52:38 > 0:52:42so he's likely to be a very exacting judge.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45- Hello. Very good to see you. - Nice to meet you.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Philip and Bendor are now holed up in Philip's office
0:52:50 > 0:52:52with Christopher Brown, the independent expert.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58It's such an incredibly sensitive process.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01And Christopher Brown wants to have a look at the painting
0:53:01 > 0:53:04and familiarise himself with the process it's gone through
0:53:04 > 0:53:07to get to this point before he tells us what he thinks.
0:53:09 > 0:53:10And Philip is...
0:53:10 > 0:53:12urbane as always,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15but I know, underneath it all, he's very nervous.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19Yeah, there's a lot of jeopardy here, actually.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21I just want...
0:53:21 > 0:53:25want it to cease, I just want to find out what the answer is.
0:53:27 > 0:53:3030 minutes of close consideration later,
0:53:30 > 0:53:32Dr Brown is ready to give us his opinion.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36What are your first impressions of the painting?
0:53:36 > 0:53:39Well, it's very exciting to see the picture for the first time,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42as I'm doing today, since it emerged from the conservation studio.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46I think the most striking thing for me
0:53:46 > 0:53:49is the unfinished nature of the picture.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53You can see very clearly where he's outlined the hand,
0:53:53 > 0:53:59and you see again, very importantly, there is a strong black line
0:53:59 > 0:54:01down the side of the face,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04very characteristic of Van Dyck and the way he worked.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07And what happens then, of course, is in the final stage of painting,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09he softens that line.
0:54:09 > 0:54:14And these kind of almost tricks of the trade that are employed,
0:54:14 > 0:54:20again this is what Van Dyck would have taught to his pupils and his assistants,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22so it doesn't take you to the man himself,
0:54:22 > 0:54:26but it places the picture rather firmly within the studio of Van Dyck.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30I have to say, that's very reassuring,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33considering that we bought it as just a copy of a Van Dyck.
0:54:33 > 0:54:39I mean, to move it to within the orbit of the great man is progress.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44The face is something that struck you very strongly, Philip, and myself.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Do you think this could be by Van Dyck?
0:54:49 > 0:54:50This is a very delicate.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54There's no doubt the painting of the hair is very delicate.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58Very delicate touch of blue showing the blood beneath the skin -
0:54:58 > 0:55:01it's very, very close to Van Dyck himself.
0:55:01 > 0:55:02The whole thing? Just the face?
0:55:02 > 0:55:04Oh, just the face.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07No, this, this does have the characteristics of the studio.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09But that's exactly what you'd expect,
0:55:09 > 0:55:13you wouldn't expect anything different in a picture of this date, 39-40.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17But the face itself is where you'd expect to see
0:55:17 > 0:55:18the hand of the master himself.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21But I really would like to sit down and place it in the context
0:55:21 > 0:55:27of other late pictures by Van Dyck, to look further into the question,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31but I think it has a sporting chance of being by Van Dyck himself.
0:55:31 > 0:55:32For the sake of my own clarity,
0:55:32 > 0:55:35as you know, the auction houses have this term "attributed to",
0:55:35 > 0:55:38meaning they think it might be by a particular artist.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42Do you think we could describe this picture now,
0:55:42 > 0:55:47would you be comfortable with us describing this picture now as attributed to Van Dyck?
0:55:47 > 0:55:49Yes, I think that's reasonable.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53I think that's a reasonable description because it comes from the studio,
0:55:53 > 0:55:55it is very close to the artist himself,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58and I think further research will clarify
0:55:58 > 0:56:00whether or not it's by Van Dyck.
0:56:00 > 0:56:01Do you like it?
0:56:01 > 0:56:04Oh, I do, I do, I like it very much indeed.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07It would hang happily on the walls of the Ashmolean Museum.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10When Philip chooses to donate it.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13THEY LAUGH
0:56:13 > 0:56:16It's one of the great dreams of the art world to discover
0:56:16 > 0:56:20a masterpiece hidden for centuries.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23After that first leap of imagination,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27almost 1,000 hours of restoration and some sleepless nights,
0:56:27 > 0:56:29we've revealed not only a beautiful painting,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32but one that came from Van Dyck's studio,
0:56:32 > 0:56:36perhaps from the brush of the Master himself.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39Well, I think that went well, and do you know why I'm so pleased?
0:56:39 > 0:56:42You never believed us all along, did you?
0:56:42 > 0:56:45Well, she has had the makeover to end all makeovers.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47The only thing is, though,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50you both believe that the face is by Van Dyck,
0:56:50 > 0:56:54and he's slightly hedged his bets there, so is that disappointing?
0:56:54 > 0:56:56No, what we've done today I think is a huge advance.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59We've got one of the leading national experts on Van Dyck
0:56:59 > 0:57:02to say that this is attributed to the man.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06You can't expect immediate responses from people like that
0:57:06 > 0:57:09when they're suddenly presented with the evidence,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12and in so dramatic a form as it emerged today.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16As far as I'm concerned, this is proper art historical progress,
0:57:16 > 0:57:20and what's more, now that we've got this far
0:57:20 > 0:57:23we have a very exciting place for it to hang.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30Here on Whitehall stands the 17th-century Banqueting House,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33once part of the great Palace of Whitehall.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37It was Henrietta Maria's home, and also where her husband,
0:57:37 > 0:57:39Charles I, was executed in 1649.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44Philip has agreed that the painting will be displayed here,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47where experts and the public can judge it for themselves.
0:57:48 > 0:57:49What do you think of this?
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Henrietta Maria coming to hang in the palace
0:57:52 > 0:57:55where she spent so much time as a queen.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57It's rather like she's come home.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59And, of course, it's also in great company.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03I mean, have you seen that ceiling up there by Rubens?
0:58:03 > 0:58:07One of the great masterpieces of England, here where she's hanging.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10And, of course, Van Dyck was his greatest pupil, so what better place?
0:58:10 > 0:58:12And also, the public can see his painting here.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17I mean, who'd have thought it when you first set eyes on it all those months ago?
0:58:17 > 0:58:20And don't think there aren't many other pictures out there,
0:58:20 > 0:58:21waiting to be found.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24If you have a painting that deserves investigation,
0:58:24 > 0:58:28contact us at fakeorfortune@bbc.co.uk
0:58:32 > 0:58:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd