Every painting has a backstory. Sometimes that story is hidden in clues within the painting itself; at other times it is buried in the picture’s past. This installation highlights discoveries from the museum’s constantly unfolding research on several paintings from the 1400s through the 1700s.

In some cases, museum staff are trying to learn an artist’s identity or a picture’s original purpose. Some kinds of art, like copies of original paintings or art made by women, have historically been obscured. With every new discovery, we fill in missing pieces and unearth new questions to pursue.

Dutch and Flemish artists included in this exhibition are among others Anthony van Dyck (Mary Magdalene Mourning), Willem Conelisz. Duyster (Soldiers beside a Fireplace), Judith Leyster (The Gay Cavalier) and Hendrick Goltzius (Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus).