Two Rare Rembrandt Portraits Discovered in Private Collection

Sometimes in this process, knowledge of a work’s importance might just slip away.

Rembrandtis the Dutch Old Master responsible for Renaissance masterpieces such asThe Night WatchandThe Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.

The two new portraits discovered in the UK show off this incredible talent.

Standing only 8 inches tall, the pair are the smallest known portraits by the artist.

Van der Pluym was a wealthy plumber in the city of Leiden.

That year, the painter created these incredible portraits.

The find is extraordinary for several other reasons.

For one, they have excellent provenance.

This is the path artwork takes changing hands, which is ideally well documented to demonstrate authenticity.

Whats extraordinary is that the paintings were completely unknown, said Pettifer.

Since that date, they have been owned by the family of the present owners.

The works have been studied in the past few years by experts at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.