THE HAGUE, May 15 (Xinhua) -- An unknown painting by Rembrandt, a portrait of an unknown young man from around 1634, probably a fragment of a large double portrait, has been discovered, reported Dutch daily NRC on Tuesday.
Dutch art dealer and art historian Jan Six bought this unsigned and undated painting a year and half ago at an auction at Christie's in London. He told NRC that at first glance he recognized Rembrant's hand. "It was immediately click-click-click," he said. A dozen of curators and art historians now agree that it is a Rembrandt.
The 94.5 cm by 73.5 cm portrait was brought to Christie's by a noble British family, who had owned it for at least six generations. The auction house attributed it to "a painter from the Rembrandt area" and expected it to yield 15,000 to 20,000 pounds. Six bought the portrait for 137,000 pounds, according to NRC.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was a Dutch painter considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history.