NELSON-ATKINS HAS A REAL HIERONYMUS BOSCH

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, has learned that a 16th century oil-wood panel the museum owns was painted by the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch.

The work, "The Temptation of St. Anthony," was previously attributed to the artist's workshop. The piece is on loan to the Het Noordbrabents Museum in Den Bosch, The Netherlands, which is Bosch's hometown, for an exhibition opening Feb. 13. The show in Holland marks 500 years since Bosch's death in 1516.

The attribution of the work was made by the Bosch Research and Conservation Project, which sent a team to Kansas City to study the painting and concluded that it could "be ascribed to Bosch with confidence."

There are only about 25 paintings — including four others in the U.S. — in existence that are known to be by Bosch, including "The Garden of Earthly Delights." His style is known for elaborate, fantastical, colorful landscapes filled with exotic creatures and references to Biblical stories.

According to the Nelson-Atkins, investigators were able to detect Bosch's typical technique of sketching an underdrawing over the ground layer of his oak panels using a coarse brush with thin paint. Bosch also often changed his designs, and a change in the shape of the jug in the St. Anthony panel was apparent.

The work dates from 1500 to 1510 and was last on view at the Nelson-Atkins in 2003. Because of its inclusion in the show in Holland this year and other pending invitations, it's not known when it will be shown in Kansas City next. It's the Nelson-Atkins' sole Bosch, but the museum is opening a show of Dutch art Feb. 24 called "Reflecting Class in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer."

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EPCOT FLOWER AND GARDEN FEST AT DISNEY WORLD

The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival gets under way March 2 for a 90-day run through May 30 at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The event features topiaries of Disney characters, floral displays, gardening seminars and a concert series. Admission to the festival is included in regular admission to Epcot.

Plants, grasses and mosses are used to create the character topiaries, which will include Peter Pan, Snow White and "Frozen" sisters Anna and Elsa.

The festival also includes Butterflies on the Go, a garden with nearly 1,000 butterflies flitting amid nectar plants like passion flower, coral honeysuckle, lantana, butterfly bush, blue porterweed, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.

Food and beverage items will include garden- and backyard-inspired creations like a field greens salad, using greens harvested from Epcot's Land pavilion, along with heirloom apples, Stilton cheese and dried blueberries.

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SHOW IN PORTLAND, OREGON, FOCUSING ON JAPANESE ARCHITECT

A monthlong exhibition at the Center for Architecture in Portland, Oregon, looks at the work of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

The show focuses on Kuma's design for the Portland Japanese Garden's Cultural Crossing expansion project, which is Kuma's first public commission in North America. The $33.5 million project includes Kuma's design for a Cultural Village of three LEED-certified buildings to house a learning center, a library, gallery space and a traditional tea cafe.

The show at the Center for Architecture, "Tsunagu: Connecting to the Architecture of Kengo Kuma," uses project images, construction drawings, and an interactive use of space to explore Kuma's use of nature, natural materials and Japanese traditions. Tsunagu means connection but also suggests a connection between nature and people.

The immersive show will also include materials that can be touched, seen, and smelled, such as screens, tatami mats and samples of the cedar and granite used in the new buildings.

The free show is open daily Feb. 4-29 at the Center for Architecture, 403 NW 11th Ave., in Portland.

The Portland Japanese Garden, located in Portland's Washington Park, has been closed for construction of the Cultural Crossing expansion project but reopens March 1.