The artwork, rediscovered in 2014 and authenticated after nearly a decade of restoration, offers a rare glimpse into the Dutch master’s early career.
LONDON — A painting recently attributed to Dutch Baroque master Rembrandt van Rijn following an extensive restoration sold for £8 million ($10.9 million) Wednesday at a Sotheby’s auction in London.
The work, “Let the Little Children Come to Me” (c. 1627), was the highlight of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings sale. Although it drew significant attention, the final price fell short of the auction house’s pre-sale estimate of up to £12 million.
The painting is appearing on the market for the first time since experts attributed it to Rembrandt, dating it to the artist’s early years in Leiden, his hometown.
The artwork was originally discovered in 2014 during an auction in Cologne, Germany, where it was cataloged as an anonymous 17th-century Dutch painting and sold for approximately €1.5 million.
Art historians noticed stylistic elements consistent with Rembrandt’s work, but it was only after nearly a decade of restoration and scientific analysis that conservators confirmed the attribution. The restoration revealed that the painting had been extensively altered by a later artist, who modified several figures, including replacing a turban with a traditional Dutch cap and clothing a child originally painted nude by Rembrandt.
According to Elizabeth Lopkovitz, Sotheby’s head of Old Master Paintings in London, one of the painting’s most remarkable features is that it remains partially unfinished, providing a rare glimpse into Rembrandt’s creative process, from the initial composition to the early application of color and light.
The biblical scene, based on the Gospel of Luke, also includes portraits believed to depict members of Rembrandt’s own family. Experts have also identified what appears to be a self-portrait of the artist peering into the composition from the upper-right corner of the canvas.
