In the '60s, experts dismissed this as a fake Rembrandt. Turns out, it's the real deal

unity thing Jonathan Bikker has learned from his clip at the Rijksmuseum in capital of the netherlands is that almost everyone and their canis familiaris thinks they feature a secret masterpiece by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.

"I get maybe two emails a week with someone who thinks they have a Rembrandt painting. And of course, most often, 99 per cent of the time, they don't," Bikker, the museum's curator of 17th century Dutch paintings, told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. 

"But this painting was different."

A photo of the painting, Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, first landed in Bikkers's inbox about two and a half years ago, from a man who had inherited it from his father.

It had already been dismissed as a fake decades ago. But upon closer inspection, using modern techniques, the experts at the Rijksmuseum team have now authenticated it a genuine painting by the 17th-century Dutch master.

"I get to hang it up tomorrow evening in the Rijksmuseum," Bikker said with a giddy chuckle. "And everyone can come and see it."

By the time the painting's owner reached out to the Rijksmuseum, he'd long lost hope the piece was authentic. 

"The owner didn't think that it was by Rembrandt. That wasn't his question. His question was who painted it?" Bikker said. 

His father bought it in 1961, believing it to be a genuine artifact. He did not realize at the time of purchase that, just one year prior, the era's leading Rembrandt experts had dubbed the painting a fake, and officially de-listed it as an authentic part of the Dutch painter's collection.

The buyer had it appraised again over the years, only to be told repeatedly that it wasn't a Rembrandt. 

"What became obvious to us is that also in discussion with the current owner is that none of those scholars had seen the painting itself,"  Bikker said. "They were judging it on black and white photographs."

Bikker wanted a closer look. Something about the piece intrigued him. Even from the photographs, alone, it reminded him of Rembrandt's other works. 

He asked the owner to bring it to the museum, so they could investigate further.

It took two years of painstaking work to authenticate the piece.

First, the team verified that the raw materials used were ones Rembrandt would have worked with. The wood was carbon-dated to 1633, the same year the painting was created. The pigments used all appear in Rembrant's other works.

"So everything was the same. [But] that doesn't tell you that it's by Rembrandt" Bikker said.

"What does tell you that it is by Rembrandt is the very close examination and comparison of the brush strokes, the build up of the layers, that sort of thing, with other paintings that nobody has ever doubted are by Rembrandt."

Painting conservator Petria Noble agreed, noting the depiction of light using thick layers of paint — a technique known as  impasto  — was characteristic of Rembrandt.

Vision of Zacharias in the Temple depicts a moment from The Bible, when the high ⁠priest Zacharias is shocked to learn ⁠from archangel Gabriel that, despite their advanced ‌age, he and his wife will have a son, John the Baptist. 

Bikker says the story has been depicted in artworks before, but usually with a focus on the archangel himself. Rembrandt, instead, focuses on Zacharias, depicting Gabriel only as a bright light in the upper right corner. 

"I think Rembrandt chose an earlier moment in the story where the archangel Gabriel hasn't shown himself as the archangel," Bikker said. "That's typical of Rembrandt, that he chooses a different moment."

Bikker says the painting came at an early point in the master's career, when he'd just recently moved to Amsterdam and was still making a name for himself. 

"In Amsterdam, he was painting portrait after portrait after portrait, because that's where the money was," Bikker said. "But his real passion was to paint biblical scenes like this."

The work joins about 350 other known Rembrandt paintings.

The owner has loaned the piece to the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands' national art and history museum, where it will be on display for at least the next three years. 

"It's wonderful that people can now learn more about the  young Rembrandt," ⁠Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum, ‌said.  "It is a beautiful example of the unique way Rembrandt depicts stories."

Interview with Jonathan Bikker produced by James Chaarani

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