Art historians today revealed that a painting stored for decades at an American museum was in fact a work by Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch.
The surprise discovery comes as 's-Hertogenbosch, the hometown of the artist whose nightmarish visions on canvas earned him the moniker of "the devil's painter", marks the 500th anniversary of his death.
The newly-uncovered painting has been lying forgotten for years in storage at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, which acquired it in the 1930s.
Entitled "The Temptation of Saint Anthony", it shows the saint gathering water in a jug as he leans on a staff in what was probably part of a larger panel, possibly a triptych.
Initially it had been believed to be the work of one of the many students who flocked to Bosch's workshop in 's-Hertogenbosch.
But a team of international researchers who carried out a five-year research project using sophisticated infra-red technology determined that the painting was in fact by the master himself.
The canvas, which was likely painted between 1500 to 1510, "is a significant addition to the small body of existent work produced by Hieronymus Bosch," the researchers said in a statement.
"Although the image was heavily retouched and overpainted during a 20th century restoration, Bosch's hand is still clearly recognisable in the original brushwork," they said.
The painting was unveiled today at the Noordbrabants Museum in Bosch's hometown which has succeeded in bringing together over 20 of his 25 or so surviving works for an unprecedented retrospective which opens on February 13.
"The little monsters in the panel are typically 'Boschian'," the researchers said, highlighting a monster with a fox's head, and a toad clambering out of the water.
Even a floating sausage can be found in other artworks by Bosch.
It is the second work that the Bosch Research and Conservation Project (BRCP) has recently determined was by the Dutch master. Late last year, the team also revealed that a drawing called "The Infernal Landscape" was drawn by him.
The exhibition marks the culmination of a nine-year quest by museum director Charles de Mooij to reunite Bosch's unique artistic legacy in the place where he worked, lived and died.
