A painting donated to Britain’s National Trust has been confirmed as a Rembrandt self-portrait worth as much as 30 million pounds, or $50 million.
Scientists at Cambridge University analyzed the wooden panel the portrait is painted on, the signature, and the pigments to determine the artwork’s authenticity.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
The portrait was originally thought to be created by one of Rembrandt’s pupils. Last year, Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering said the painting was a genuine Rembrandt, leading to the scientific tests.
Rembrandt was 29 when the portrait was painted in 1635, The Associated Press reported.
The National Trust received the painting in 2010 from the estate of Edna, Lady Samuel of Wych Cross, the wife of a property developer and art collector.
Charged with safeguarding British heritage, the National Trust cannot sell the artwork.
The painting will be displayed as part of the
Rembrandt Revealed exhibition at Buckland Abbey in southwest England, The Telegraph reported.
Work to authenticate the painting included examination under magnification, infra-red reflectography, X-rays, raking light photography, and pigment and medium analysis. Several layers of yellowed varnish were removed.
''The varnish was so yellow that it was difficult to see how beautifully the portrait had been painted,” David Taylor, paintings and sculpture curator at the National Trust, said, according to the Telegraph. ''Now you can really see all the flesh tones and other colours, as well as the way in which the paint has been handled - it's now much easier to appreciate it as a Rembrandt.''
''What was revealed was a true depth of color, much more detail and a three-dimensional appearance to the fabric in Rembrandt's cloak,” painting conservator Christine Slottvedd Kimbriel said, according to The Telegraph. ''It was close investigation of the artist's signature that gave us one of the biggest clues as to its true authenticity.”
The painting’s creator first was called into question in 1968, when a Rembrandt specialist said areas of the painting were not accomplished enough to be the work of the famous painter.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.