After a picture was forgotten in a corner of the Bredius Museum in The Hague for a century, art experts have now determined it is a genuine Rembrandt. The image was previously considered a “crude imitation,” according to the Guardian.
It was long believed that the image came from a follower of Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. He is known for pictures like “The Night Watch” and “The Return of the Prodigal Son”.
The Bredius Museum announced on Thursday that the picture actually came from Rembrandt. This could be determined by new technical possibilities. Johanneke Verhave, who restored the painting, said she was “convinced by the quality of the details”.
She studied the artwork alongside Jeroen Giltaij, the former Chief Curator of Old Paintings. He rediscovered the work in a book about Rembrandt. “Just a few broad brushstrokes” then convinced him that the picture was in fact by Rembrandt. Giltaij reviewed the sketch for his large book of Rembrandt paintings, which is said to contain all of the Dutch master’s 684 works. “When I looked at it, I thought Bredius was right. I think that’s actually a Rembrandt,” he said.
The picture was bought in 1921 by the then art curator Abraham Bredius. He was also convinced that it was a Rembrandt original. Over the years, however, art experts had downplayed the work as a “crude imitation”.
