A recently rediscovered portrait of a man by Rembrandt fteched US $ 9,077,500 at Sotheby's New York on January 30th 1998. The oil painting on an oval oak panel measuring 63.5 by 50.8 cm and representing the portrait of a bearded man in a red coat went to an American art dealer.
This portrait was recently rediscovered and evaluated by the Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project which is to publish it as an addendum to volume IV of A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings as an authentically signed work by the artist dated 1633.
The dendrochronoligal analysis of the wood panel showed it originated from the Baltic/Polish region as most of the panels used by Rembrandt. The youngest heart wood ring was formed out in 1620 and the earliest possible felling date was 1629.
Experts came to the conclusion that the painting was a prototype and not a copy and added that the autotograph signature, as well as the degree of freedom of the brushwork, were also important clues supporting its authentification.
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