A $15,000 painting is now expected to fetch millions after it was found to be a Rembrandt

The painting is believed to have been created around 1628 when the Dutch master was 22

Rembrandt's The Adoration of the Kings was valued at $15,000 two years ago as it was believed to be painted by one of the Dutch master's students. Photo: Sotheby's

A painting once appraised at $15,000 is now projected to fetch up to $18 million under the hammer after it was found to be the work of Rembrandt.

The painting, titled The Adoration of the Kings, depicts the biblical account of the Three Wise Men meeting baby Jesus. It was valued at $15,000 two years ago as it was believed to be painted by one of Rembrandt’s students. The work’s recent ownership lineage is traced back to 1955, to collector JCH Heldring in Amsterdam. In 1985, it was sold by his widow to a German family. Christie’s in Amsterdam then put the painting up for auction in 2021, where it was acquired by an anonymous buyer for $908,000.

The work, measuring 24.5 x 18.5 centimeters, was sold for a sum that was believed to be astronomical, given its initial valuation. Christie’s ascribed the painting to the Circle of Rembrandt, meaning the work was produced by an artist who was close to the Dutch master.

However, now the painting is estimated to be sold for millions more in auction. The anonymous buyer consigned the work to Sotheby’s, who is now attributing the painting to Rembrandt himself.

The auction house undertook a research project that spanned 18 months, comprising x-rays, infrared imaging and conversations with Rembrandt academics. It is believed that the painting was created around 1628, and is an example of the artist's early work, when he was 22 and living in Leiden, a city in western Netherlands.

What makes the work particularly valuable is that a lion’s share of Rembrandt’s known art is part of institutional collections. The few that have come into auction “have been portraits or studies of single character heads,” reads a Sotheby’s release.

Thus, the painting presents a “fantastic opportunity” for the art market, George Gordon, co-chairman of Old Master Paintings Worldwide at Sotheby’s, told CNN.

“I would say that it’s particularly significant because it adds to our understanding of Rembrandt at this crucial date in his development and career, when he was clearly very ambitious and developing very quickly as an artist.”

The painting is first referred to in the 1714 inventory of Dutch collector Constantijn Ranst. It was offered for sale in 1814, and then in 1822. The work then vanished from the public eye until the mid-20th century, when it was acquired by Heldring.

It had been attributed to Rembrandt until 1960, when German art historian Kurt Bauch said it was produced by someone who had studied with the Dutch master. However, Bauch never saw the painting in person and based his conclusions on a black-and-white photograph.

“This sophisticated painting is in equal measure a product of Rembrandt’s brush and his intellect. All the hallmarks of his style in the late 1620s are evident both in the visible painted surface and in the underlying layers revealed by science, showing multiple changes in the course of its creation, and casting fresh light on how he thought,” Gordon said.

The painting is currently being exhibited at the Sotheby’s branch in Hong Kong. It will then make its way to New York, Los Angeles and London, where it will be auctioned on December 6.