Title: The Conjurer
Description: The Conjurer is by Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch and/or his workshop, executed around 1502. There are five versions of this painting and one engraving, but most experts believe the most reliable copy is part of the collection of the Musée Municipal in St.-Germain-en-Laye, which is kept locked in a safe and loaned out on a limited basis for special exhibitions in France and abroad. On 1 December 1978 the painting was stolen from the museum and returned on 2 February 1979. The painting comes from the bequest of Louis Alexandre Ducastel, a notary at Saint Germain en Laye from 1813, who was also city council member and mayor in August 1835 and (provisionally) in 1839. The collection seems especially to have been formed by his father John Alexander Ducastel, a painter and collector.
Author(s): Hieronymus Bosch