Unknown Rembrandt discovered in American museum

An American museum discovered a previously unknown painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. The Allentown Art Museum for years attributed the Portrait of a young woman to one of Rembrandt's understudies, but after restoration and scientific study now concluded that it was painted by the Dutch master himself, AP reports.

Two years ago the painting was sent to the New York University for conservation and cleaning, where layers of over-paint and varnish that had been added over the centuries were carefully removed. The conservators became increasingly convinced that the artwork was painted by Rembrandt himself. Using a variety of tools such as X-ray, infrared and electron microscopy, they are now sure that this was the case. 

The analysis showed "brushwork, and a liveliness to the brushwork, that is quite consistent with other works by Rembrandt," one of the conservators at the New York University's Institute of Fine Arts said to the news wire. 

The Allentown Art Museum has no intention to sell the Portrait of a young woman, so the painting hasn't been appraised. But other authenticated works by Rembrandt have sold for tens of millions of euros.

For example, last year the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam looked into buying painting The Standard Bearer for 165 million euros. And in 2015, the Dutch and French governments together bought the portraits of  Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit for 160 million euros.