Experts say the painting of Van Gogh found during renovation works on a house in Belgium was not a self-portrait.
ADVERTISEMENTIt's a no-go for a suspected Van Gogh found in Belgium.
Last week a mural with an alleged self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh appeared during renovation work on a house in the Rabot neighbourhood in the city of Gent in Belgium
But alas, the suspected self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh was not a work by the master.
Specialists from the University of Gent came by and did measurements on the art piece. The verdict fell fairly quickly: the painting could not possibly be painted by the master himself. The pigment of the paint was not used during Van Gogh's lifetime.
Eva Vermeersch, a researcher at Ghent University, analysed the mural.
"We saw with the Raman spectroscopy, that we have a pigment produced in 1928. Since Van Gogh died in 1890, it is unlikely that he painted it himself," she explains.
But now the question remains: who made the painting?
Though the family is somewhat disappointed, they found the experience exciting. Furthermore, they said they were keeping the mural, which will provide them with a fun tale to regale guests with in the future.
