Incredible 17th century painting originally valued at $14k sells for $14 MILLION at Sotheby’s auction after collectors uncovered stunning secret

An incredible 17th-century painting, originally valued at $14,000 two years ago, sold for almost $14 million at a Sotheby’s auction after collectors discovered a stunning secret about it.

The oil painting called The Adoration of the Magi was estimated to be worth between $10,600 and $15,900 in 2021 when Christie’s attributed the work to someone from Rembrandt’s circle and put it up for sale in Amsterdam.

But Sotheby’s finally determined the work was a genuine Rembrandt at its auction last December, when the price rose to $13.8 million just two years after the last sale.

During an extensive investigation that lasted twenty months, experts used X-ray analysis and infrared imaging and consulted with several leading Rembrandt scientists.

With some bidders still unconvinced, no one bid in the December 6 auction. But the painting was covered by an undisclosed surety for a price of $13.8 million.

Sotheby’s finally determined the work was a genuine Rembrandt at its December auction (pictured) last year, when the price rose to $13.8 million just two years after the last sale.

The buyer had agreed to pay the price before the auction in December, meaning that the painting would be awarded to him if no higher bid was made.

The small-scale 9.6 x 7.3 inch painting first came to light in 1955 when it was acquired by JCH Heldring in Amsterdam, according to the Catalog of 62 pages from Sotheby’s.

The “exceptionally beautiful copy of the master” was exhibited in the 1950s as a genuine Rembrandt, until a German art historian, Kurt Bauch, questioned its authorship in 1960. The auction house said this was because Bauch only looked at a photo of the painting.

After Heldring’s widow died in 1985, Adoration came back on the market when Christie’s listed it as being by someone from Rembrandt’s circle. A German family acquired it at the time.

Christie’s 2021 catalog assumed the painting was by a student or friend of the Dutch master. It sold for $992,000.

After extensive research, Sotheby’s determined in October 2023 that the painting was a rediscovered Rembrandt, calling the monochrome piece “a work of great significance in the artist’s early career.”

‘This long-overlooked painting is an important addition to Rembrandt’s painted oeuvre. It is equally a product of his brush and his intellect,” the auction house wrote in the catalogue.

‘Most likely executed around 1628, infrared imaging reveals numerous changes in composition as Rembrandt worked and reworked the scene, using a sharp point – possibly an etcher’s burin – to bring out the subject’s full potential.’

During an extensive study that lasted twenty months, experts used X-ray analysis and infrared imaging and consulted with several leading Rembrandt scientists

The small-scale 9.6 x 7.3 inch painting first came to light in 1955 when it was acquired by JCH Heldring in Amsterdam, according to Sotheby’s 62-page catalog

Debates continued, with some experts coming forward to question the painting’s staggering sales

George Gordon, the global co-chairman of Old Master Paintings at Sotheby’s, said: ‘All the hallmarks of his style in the late 1720s are clearly visible, both in the visible painted surface and in the underlying layers that have been revealed by science.’

Gordon told the New York Times that the lack of bids did not diminish his confidence in the attribution.

But the debates continued, with some experts coming forward to warn the auction house about the painting’s staggering sales.

Jorgen Wadum, who works at the Mauritshuis in The Hague and is head of restoration at the National Gallery of Denmark, wrote a letter to Sotheby’s on the day of the auction.

In the letter he noted ‘significant discrepancies’ between Adoration and ‘early and authentic Rembrandt paintings.

‘I felt compelled to write and warn the auction house. If you were to buy the painting based on what Sotheby said, you would simply be cheated,” he wrote.

Wadum said the lines in a section of Adoration that Sotheby’s had described as “quickly marked with a sharp point” were too straight and sharp.

“The technique and application of paint suggest that an artist is working in the style of Rembrandt, yet constructing the scene differently,” he wrote

Gordon told the New York Times that the lack of bids did not diminish his confidence in the attribution

He said the lines in a section of Adoration that Sotheby’s had described as “quickly marked with a sharp point” were too straight and sharp.

It lacked “the little curls or hooks that you see repeatedly in Rembrandt’s scribbles and drawings,” he said.

“The technique and application of paint suggest that an artist is working in the style of Rembrandt, yet constructing the scene differently,” he wrote.

Christie’s also stood by its own attribution, saying the auction house had spoken to “leading independent Rembrandt experts.”

‘It was not accepted as an autograph work and was offered accordingly from Rembrandt’s circle. We understand that this remains the prevailing view,” Christie’s said in a statement.