00:00According to the Antiques Roadshow in Gloucestershire that the mystery of the
00:02priest's painting was first uncovered. I bought it originally in Anterich in an
00:08antique shop there and knew nothing about it. I spent 400 for it. As it happened by
00:15coincidence I was making a program with our paintings expert Philip Mould about
00:19Van Dyke and I spent nothing but weeks looking at Van Dyke paintings and when I
00:24saw this something about the eyes and the the way you can always see the bone
00:29under the nose here it just looked similar to the kind of paintings I've
00:34been looking at so I thought who knows it could be. I asked art expert Philip
00:41Mould to take a closer look at the mysterious man with the rough. It's as
00:45off-piste as you get but if this is to be by Van Dyke there's only one way of
00:51finding out the question is are you prepared to commission a process of
00:57cleaning and restoration by which paint is radically removed but later paint to
01:06reveal what I hope could be an original work beneath. What do you think? I think
01:14yes. And Fiona I salute your instincts. Restoration of the painting took several
01:20months as layers of later additional paint had to be carefully removed to
01:25expose the original 17th century brushstrokes beneath. It was quite a
01:29transformation. In 1634 Van Dyke did a huge painting it was called the magistrates
01:34of Brussels. It was a group portrait tragically 60 years later it was destroyed
01:40and it is only recorded through a few sketches and this is I think rather
01:47similar to yours. An independent expert had looked at Father Jamie's portrait to
01:52authenticate it. Philip Mould delivered his verdict. Well Jamie I'm I'm delighted to be able to tell you that you
02:02do
02:02have a work by Sir Anthony Van Dyke. So what do you think you are the owner of a Van
02:09Dyke?
02:10I'm just completely shocked. I remember you told me that if you were to sell this
02:17painting you wanted to buy some new bells for your chapel. Is that still a plan?
02:20It is still a plan. I would like this country to be able to commemorate the 100th
02:27anniversary of the First World War and I think that as a nation we owe that to the
02:33people who gave their lives for all today. So a portrait bought for 400 pounds is now
02:40worth up to 400,000. Thanks to this old Brussels dignitary Father Jamie's new bells
02:47can ring out from his chapel. Fiona Bruce, BBC News.
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