Rembrandt dismissed as ‘fake’ is genuine
The Vision of Zacharias in the Temple is thought now to be worth tens of millions of pounds as an authentic work by the Dutch master
A Rembrandt painting previously dismissed as fake is in fact genuine, a museum has found.
The little-known Vision of Zacharias in the Temple was rejected by curators as one of the Dutch master’s originals in 1960.
However, the 1633 work has now been found to be an authentic Rembrandt after a two-year study at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Researchers used cutting-edge scanning techniques to confirm the 17th-century painter was behind the artwork, which is now thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds.
The painting, which depicts the visitation of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, by the Angel Gabriel in the New Testament, has been privately owned since it was dismissed by curators 66 years ago.
“It’s wonderful that people can now learn more about the young Rembrandt– he created this very poignant work shortly after moving from Leiden to Amsterdam,” said Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum. “It is a beautiful example of the unique way Rembrandt depicts stories.”
The museum said the painting “disappeared from public view” after it was excluded from Rembrandt’s oeuvre.
That was until two years of study began when the painting’s current owner approached the Rijksmuseum about the painting.
Jonathan Bikker and Petria Noble, curators at the museum, discovered that the paints used in the artwork had all been used in other pieces by Rembrandt van Rijn dating to the same period.
Scans of the painting found its layer had been composed in Rembrandt’s fashion, while analysis of its signature and the age of the wooden panel onto which it was painted aligned with the Dutch master’s timeline.
“The painting technique and the build-up of paint layers are also comparable to other early works by Rembrandt,” the museum said.
Experts concluded that Rembrandt painted the artwork aged 27.
Rembrandt’s fascination with God
Mr Bikker and Mrs Noble wrote in The Burlington Magazine that the painting now “takes its place as a significant and dramatic work from the artist’s early years”.
They compared the work to Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (1630), another of his masterpieces in the Rijksmuseum.
“Like the Jeremiah and other pictures from early in his career, the Vision of Zacharias is an example of Rembrandt’s fascination with God speaking through dreams and visions and the effect it has on humans,” they added.
The Vision depicts the account of Luke’s Gospel in which Zacharias, also known as Zechariah, serves as priest in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Zacharias is visited by the Angel Gabriel who foretells that he and his wife Elizabeth, who are both elderly, will have a son, John the Baptist, who would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord”.
In the New Testament, John the Baptist foretold the coming of Christ before being beheaded on the orders of King Herod, with his head served up on a plate.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
