Two years ago, Christie’s auction house mistakenly listed the painting at $15,000, believing it was done by a student or artist close to the famous painter.
On Wednesday, December 6, a Rembrandt painting was sold at Sotheby’s auction Worship of the Magilong mistakenly attributed to the artist’s student, for $13.8 million, CNN reports.
The monochrome painting, depicting the meeting of the three wise men with the baby Jesus, appeared in the world of collectors in the 1950s. At that time, few people had seen this work. In 1955, it was bought in Amsterdam by collector JKH Paghawak. In 1985, his widow sold the painting to a German family who held it until it was sold at Christie’s two years ago.
At the time of the sale, Christie’s classified the biblical scene as part of the “Rembrandt circle”, suggesting that it was executed by a student or artist close to the famous painter, and estimated its value at 10,000-15,000 euros (after is about $10,600 -15,900). The painting was purchased by an anonymous buyer for €860,000, more than 50 times the painting’s estimated value.
After an anonymous buyer brought the painting to Sotheby’s, the auction house began an 18-month research project to determine the painting’s true ownership and value.
An analysis that included X-ray and infrared images, as well as intensive discussions with leading Rembrandt researchers, led Sotheby’s to conclude that the painting was his work.
The auction house believes the painting was painted early in Rembrandt’s career, around 1628, when he was 21 or 22 years old and living in the Dutch city of Leiden.
Sotheby’s
It was previously reported that the Louvre bought a 13th-century painting for 24 million euros, which was about to be thrown into a landfill.
Source: korrespondent
