The Debate Has Been Resolved: Old Master ‘Selfie’ is a Rembrandt

Editor's Note: We are supporters of the English National Trust and have frequently visited the houses under their care. Although the Rembrandt will never be sold, it attests to the treasures to be found, great and small, and enjoyed by all those who visit their properties. We have been to Buckland Abbey in the past and the painting will continue to be much admired, now with certainty.

A self-portrait, previously doubted as being a genuine Rembrandt, has now been scientifically verified as being from the Dutch Old Master's own hand.

After undergoing eight months of painstaking investigative work at the world famous Hamilton Kerr Institute (HKI) in Cambridgeshire — and re-examination by the world's leading Rembrandt expert — this now famous self-portrait, the original 'selfie', is the first Rembrandt in the National Trust's collection of 13,500 paintings.

Patricia Burtnyk & Cirsty Jones from Buckland Abbey with the Rembrandt. Credit Steven Haywood

Painted by Rembrandt in 1635, the authenticity of the portrait had previously been thrown into doubt by Rembrandt specialist Horst Gerson and the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) in 1968.

At the time they felt that certain areas of the painting were not accomplished enough to be by Rembrandt, that the date and painting style didn't correlate and the panel type was unusual.

In 2005 Ernst van de Wetering, one of these experts, concluded that the painting may well be a genuine Rembrandt when confronted with an X-radiograph of the painting and other circumstantial evidence. In 2012 he had a chance to study the painting at the Trust's Buckland Abbey in Devon where his theory was further confirmed.

His assurance led the conservation charity to send the painting away for further scientific analysis. Christine Slottvedd Kimbriel, Paintings Conservator at HKI said: "When the painting arrived we felt that a thorough technical examination would aid the reassessment of the painting’s authorship and we hoped that the findings could help to verify if it was definitely by Rembrandt.

"The self-portrait went through a series of investigate analyses to include close visual examination under magnification, infra-red reflectography, x-radiography, raking light photography and pigment and medium analysis.

Christine Slottveld Kimbriel, paintings conservator at HKI carefully cleans the Rembrandt. Credit Brian Cleckner

"Careful cleaning and removal of several layers of aged and yellowed varnish which had been added to the painting much later, revealed the original colours and painting style beneath. What was revealed was a true depth of colour, much more detail and a three-dimensional appearance to the fabric in Rembrandt’s cloak which had previously been obscured and detracted from the quality of the work in the eyes of the Rembrandt Research Project.

"Next, it was close investigation of the artist’s signature that gave us one of the biggest clues as to its true authenticity. The signature and date of 1635, inscribed both on the front and back of the panel, had been considered problematic in previous assessments as it was thought that the style and composition was much more akin to the artist’s style slightly later in his career. But, the cross-section analysis left no reason to doubt that the inscription was added at the time of execution of the painting.

"The infrared reflectography and x-ray photography gave further insight into the compositional changes that took place at various stages during the execution of the portrait. For example a white figure-of-eight cuff could be seen in the x-ray, showing how Rembrandt’s left hand was at one stage included in the composition. Changes to the outline of the figure, carried out at a late stage and without much care to perfectly match the surrounding paint, were also present, and again, such alterations are present in many of Rembrandt’s own works, suggesting a dynamic process of painting typical of Rembrandt."

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The Debate Has Been Resolved: Old Master ‘Selfie’ is a Rembrandt

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