Internationally recognised art and literary critic, writer and cultural producer. Published in ELLE, Glamour, Esquire and Cosmopolitan; member of the Union of Writers.
Imagine buying a painting for £12,000 and finding out that it is actually worth £15 million. That is what happened to an anonymous buyer who purchased a small oil painting at Christie’s in Amsterdam in 2019, only to discover that it was a masterpiece by the Dutch master Rembrandt.
The painting, titled “The Adoration of the Kings”, depicts the biblical scene of the Three Wise Men visiting the baby Jesus in a humble stable. The painting measures 9.6 x 7.3 inches and is painted on an oak panel. It is one of the earliest works by Rembrandt, dating from around 1628, when he was about 22 years old and living in the Dutch city of Leiden.
The painting has a remarkable history. It was first recorded in the inventory of a collector in Amsterdam in 1714, but then disappeared from public view until 1955, when it was acquired by J.C.H. Heldring, a Dutch collector and art dealer. He sold it to a German family in 1985, where it remained until it was sold by Christie’s in 2019.
At the time of the sale, Christie’s attributed the painting to the “Circle of Rembrandt”, meaning that it was either painted by a student or a follower of the famous artist. The auction house estimated its value at between €10,000 and €15,000 ($10,600-$15,800). However, the painting attracted the attention of several bidders, who drove the price up to €860,000 ($908,000).
One of the bidders was the anonymous buyer who eventually consigned the painting to Sotheby’s, the rival auction house. Sotheby’s embarked on an 18-month research project to determine the true authorship and value of the painting. The project involved x-rays, infrared imaging, and consultations with leading Rembrandt scholars. The result was a stunning revelation: the painting was not by a follower, but by Rembrandt himself.
The painting is now expected to fetch between £10 million and £15 million ($12.2 million-$18.3 million) at Sotheby’s London on December 15, 2023. It is one of the rarest and most significant works by Rembrandt to come to the market in recent decades. Most of Rembrandt’s paintings are in museums, and the few that have been sold at auction have been mostly portraits or studies of single heads. This painting is one of the few examples of Rembrandt’s early history paintings, which show his ambition and innovation as a young artist.
The painting also reveals Rembrandt’s artistic process and personality. The x-rays and infrared images show that he made several changes to the composition, such as adding or removing figures, animals, and details. He also used a variety of techniques, such as scratching, rubbing, and glazing, to create a rich and expressive surface. He also injected some humor and realism into the scene, such as depicting one of the kings as a Moor, and showing a dog urinating on a pile of hay.
The painting is a testament to Rembrandt’s genius and creativity, as well as to the power and mystery of art. It shows how a small and seemingly insignificant painting can hide a big and surprising secret, and how a centuries-old work can still captivate and inspire us today.
