Inventory number: R5539

Item category: Paintings

Item name:

Institution: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed

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When and from whom A.J.A. Kaminski acquired this painting is no longer known.

Antwerp burgomaster Nicolaas Rockox commissioned Peter Paul Rubens to paint a triptych of St Thomas the Doubter in 1613-1615. The side panels showed Rockox (left) and his wife Adriana Perez (right). Many artists copied the work over the years, especially in the nineteenth century. The paintings were impounded in December 1945 at De Lairesse auction house at Lairessestraat 147 in Amsterdam. They had been consigned by S.J. Bakker on behalf of A.J.A. (Alfons) Kaminski. Kaminski was a German art dealer with connections in the German army. During the Second World War he lived in the Netherlands (in Amsterdam, Bergen aan Zee, Winschoten and Emmen). In May 1945, he fled to Germany. Bakker testified that he had come into contact with Kaminski through his marine insurance practice; Kaminski made use of barges and dredgers etc. How and when he received the portraits of Rockox and his wife from Kaminski is not known. And how Alfons Kaminski acquired the paintings remains unknown, even after further investigation (SNK archive no 715.1044).