August 10, 2009
Antwerp, Belgium's
Koninklijk Museum voor Schoen Kunsten (KMSKA) or Royal Museum of Fine Arts announced on August 6, 2009 that Professor Emeritus Ernst van de Wetering's research firmly points to Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) as the painter of
The Preacher Eleazar Swalmius (1637). The oil on canvas' authorship was challenged by scholars for 300 years.
The KMSKA purchased the dated portrait in 1886 as a work by Rembrandt. Its authenticity was debated since the 18th Century despite the appearance of the artist's signature. Due to its questionable authorship and the museum's space considerations, the painting often lingered in storage.
A private donor funded the portrait's recent cleaning and restoration, including the removal of thick varnish that discolored and darkened with age. Technical analyses revealed that the painting's linen came from the same roll used in Rembrandt's
The Blinding of Samson (1636) at the Städel Museum and
Danaë (1636) at the State Hermitage Museum. Expert examination indicated that the work's signature is identical to that of
A Polish Nobleman (1637) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The Preacher Eleazar Swalmius, previously attributed to Govert Flinck (1615-1660), Rembrandt's pupil, is on view in Room E of the KMSKA from August 8 to September 30, 2009. Its value skyrocketed from €1 million to €20 million because of its authentication. The painting now belongs to the corpus of 310 works firmly ascribed to the Dutch master by the prestigious Rembrandt Research Project.