The work is attributed to the workshop of Dieric Bouts the Elder and was acquired in July of this year with support from Art Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and private donations for a total of £2.29m.
It was one of two paintings export barred in 2015 following a sale from the Penrhyn Castle collection last year.
The exhibition, Image and Substance: St Luke Drawing the Virgin and Child, focuses on the iconographic and historical significance of the painting.
“This outstanding painting is not only a significant 15th century Netherlandish devotional and art historical subject, it also reveals important insights on the workshop practice and the changing status of the artist at that time,” says Bernadette Petti, assistant keeper of fine art at the Bowes Museum.
The exhibition follows a scientific examination by the National Gallery in London and is set to be accompanied by a video documenting investigations into the work.
“More than five hundred years after its production, this painting preserves intact the superb quality of pure and saturated colour nuances that give depth and translucency to the different textures,” Petti adds.
The exhibition will be held from November 12 – January 8, 2017.
