A New Rembrandt Was Just Discovered. So What?
Multimillion dollar valuations may keep things exciting, but old masters reappraisals aren’t as rare as you may think.
Rembrandt's Portrait of a Woman from 1632, before cleaning (left) and after.
Source: Courtesy of the Allentown Art Museum
Earlier this February, Pennsylvania’s Allentown Art Museum posted an Instagram video announcing that a work in its collection attributed to Rembrandt’s studio was in fact by the master himself.
Sent away for a cleaning, layers of varnish and overpaint (a fancy word for touch-ups) were removed by conservators and like a particularly high-stakes episode of Antiques Roadshow, the portrait of a rosy-cheeked woman in exquisite lace from 1632 had its attribution changed for the better. The painting, which was previously worth thousands, now potentially has a multimillion dollar valuation.