Rembrandt’s Adoration of the Magi Panel: Auction Price and Attribution Controversy

The panel ‘Adoration of the Magi’ that is now attributed to Rembrandt. Image Getty

The painting was offered at an online auction by Christie’s Netherlands two years ago as a work from Rembrandt’s circle. The estimated proceeds at the time were 10 to 15 thousand euros, but the Biblical performance sold for 860 thousand euros after a fierce battle. Apparently several bidders were convinced that it was a real Rembrandt.

Extensive research subsequently showed this, says Sotheby’s. Reference is made, among other things, to the opinion of Volker Manuth, who contributed to an overview of all Rembrandt’s paintings published in 2019. But other experts dispute that the work is by the 17th century artist.

Adoration of the Magi is a small panel (24.5 by 18.5 centimeters) that shows the adoration in a stable of the newly born Jesus by the three wise men from the East in brown and gray colors. The panel, which is said to have been painted by a young Rembrandt in Leiden, was possibly first mentioned in an inventory from 1714: ‘a clincher piece, synde the three Kings by Rembrandt’. It was then sold a number of times and in 1955 it came into the possession of the Dutchman Johannes Carel Hendrik Heldring (1887-1962), director of the Curaçao Handel-Maatschappij and art collector. Three years later, his entire collection of 43 paintings was on display for the first time in what is now called Museum Arnhem.

More revenue outside auctions

After Heldring’s death, his widow put the work up for auction as a real Rembrandt, but it remained unsold. In 1985 it worked: the Biblical scene was auctioned as a painting from Rembrandt’s circle. It was purchased by a German family, who had it auctioned again in 2021, where the panel unexpectedly fetched 860 thousand euros.

Prior to Wednesday evening’s auction, a bid had already been made that guaranteed that the painting would be sold. The names of the buyer of the work in 2021 and that of today have not been announced.

The auction record for a work by Rembrandt is 22.3 million euros. In 2009, the painting Portrait of a Man with Hands on His Hips (1658) was auctioned for that amount by Christie’s. Outside of auctions, Rembrandt’s paintings have fetched much more. The Netherlands privately purchased De Vaandeldrager at the beginning of last year for the record price of 175 million euros. In 2016, France and the Netherlands jointly acquired the portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit for a total of 160 million euros.

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2023-12-06 20:16:21
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