Years ago at Buckland Abbey, Devon, (the former home of Sir Francis Drake), I viewed a portrait of Rembrandt attributed to his Studio and one of his apprentices. The painting was gifted to the National Trust in 2010 and it was very difficult to see it properly through four centuries of dirt.
The painting has now been cleaned and X-rayed and has been authenticated as being an original, painted by Rembrandt himself, in 1635 when he was 29 years of old.
The painting is currently on tour and I had the privilege of seeing it again, all cleaned up, at Upton House, Warwickshire. You can clearly see Rembrandt is wearing a white feathered bonnet and a bejewelled cloak.
Congratulations to the National Trust for the painting’s restoration and for their “Slow Looking Experience”, which challenges the museum average of spending just eight seconds looking at an artwork, and instead gives you 20 minutes to sit and properly enjoy this masterpiece.
