A 17th-Century painting donated to UK's National Trust has been identified as a self-portrait by renowned Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, worth up to 20 million pounds.
The painting now hanging in the dining room of 16th-century English sea captain Sir Francis Drake's former home, Buckland Abbey in Devon, is 'signed' Rembrandt and dated 1635.
In the 91 x 72 cm portrait, 29-year-old Rembrandt is wearing a black velvet cap with two ostrich feathers, a gorget (a decorative metal band worn round the neck) and a short, decorated velvet cape.
The painting was acquired by the trust in September 2010 as a gift from the estate of the late Edna, Lady Samuel of Wych Cross.
Her husband, the late Harold, Lord Samuel of Wych Cross (1912-1987) was a property developer and philanthropist who collected a great number of paintings during his time, many of which are now on display at the Mansion House in London. It was previously owned by the Princes of Liechtenstein.
"This portrait is now one of our most important works of art, and will be the only Rembrandt in the National Trust's collection of approximately 13,500 paintings," David Taylor, Curator of Paintings and Sculpture said.
The investigation of the painting led by world's leading Rembrandt expert - Ernst van de Wetering - determined that it was a self-portrait by Rembrandt himself.
"Our team last scrutinised this self portrait in 1968, and according to what we knew then of Rembrandt's style we decided it was most likely painted by one of his pupils," Wetering said.
"But, over the past 45 years we have gathered far more knowledge about Rembrandt's self-portraits and the fluctuations in his style. In 2005, I published an analysis of the genesis of the painting on the basis of an X-ray," Wetering said in a statement.
"This analysis and newly found circumstantial evidence remarkably increased the likelihood that the painting was by Rembrandt himself.
"My observations of the painting technique during my recent visit to Buckland Abbey were in tune with what I had observed with other paintings of that period among which the Belshazar in the London National Gallery and the (also erroneously rejected) so called Rabbi in the British Royal Collection which show the same crude brushwork and painterly appearance," Wetering said.
The painting will remain on display for the next eight months at Buckland before going away for cleaning and further investigation, including x-rays, examination of paint pigments, infrared reflectography to examine any underdrawing and tree ring dating to establish the date of the beech panel on which it is painted.
