VUB investigates authenticity of Manneken Pis

The Free University of Brussels (VUB) will put the city’s most famous statue, the Manneken Pis, under the microscope to verify, once and for all, whether the current statue is the original, Brusselnieuws reports.

Since its creation in 1619, the legendary bronze statue has been stolen many times, including in 1745 by British soliders and in 1817 by a local convict. Most recently, in 1965, the 61-centimetre statue disappeared again only to be recovered in 1966 in two pieces in the Brussels-Charleroi canal. Since then, the original statue has stood in the Maison du Roi on the Grand Place, while the statue standing at the corner of Rue de l’Etuve and Rue du Chêne is a copy.

Due to its vagabond history, art historians have long argued whether the statue standing in the Maison du Roi is indeed the original, especially since its restoration in 2003.

Now the VUB’s SURF research group, which is comprised of experts in electro-chemical and surface engineering, will determine, once and for all, if the statue is authentic.