A portrait believed to be by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, depicting his son Titus as the Evangelist John, is set to go under the hammer at Sotheby's London on December 3rd. The painting, which disappeared for nearly a century and was later misattributed to one of Rembrandt's pupils, carries an estimate of 5 to 7 million Swiss francs. The work represents one of those rare "sleeper" paintings that lay hidden in obscurity before being rediscovered and properly attributed to their original master.
Sotheby's experts believe the unsigned work is a late piece created around 1658-59, showing Rembrandt's son Titus, who died in 1668 at the age of 26. For a hundred years, the painting was considered lost, known only through a black and white photograph. The artwork's fascinating provenance traces back to the descendants of German industrialist Fritz Thyssen, who are now consigning the piece for auction.
Fritz Thyssen's story adds a dramatic World War II chapter to the painting's history. Initially a Nazi supporter, Thyssen decisively turned against the party's anti-Jewish policies as early as 1935. In 1939, he moved to Switzerland, but his property in Germany was subsequently confiscated. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, notorious for his appetite for art, reportedly had his eye on Thyssen's Rembrandt, though the painting was saved from his grasp.
Thyssen's ordeal continued when he was captured by German forces in late 1940 and held in various concentration camps. After the war ended, the Allies interned him as a German national until he was finally able to join his daughter in Buenos Aires in 1949. He emigrated to Argentina along with his art collection, including the Rembrandt portrait.
The painting's earlier history can be traced to 18th-century Leipzig, where it belonged to merchant Gottfried Winckler. This ownership is documented through watercolors created to catalog Winckler's entire collection. Following Winckler's death, the artwork traveled from London to New York, where it was sold at auction in 1913.
According to the auction house catalog, the painting was sold as the work of a Rembrandt pupil for just $525 to German-American art historian Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner. Valentiner recognized its true value and published it in 1920 in the famous black and white reproduction, attributing it as an original Rembrandt work. He also identified the facial features as those of Titus, Rembrandt's son, whose likeness appears in many of the master's paintings. Through subsequent ownership changes, the painting eventually came into Fritz Thyssen's possession.
Rembrandt did not merely create a portrait of his son but depicted him in the guise of the Evangelist John, according to technical examinations commissioned by the auction house and conducted by specialists from Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. The suggested eagle beside Titus serves as the heraldic animal of the evangelist, confirming this religious interpretation of the portrait.
X-ray and infrared imaging have revealed fascinating details about Rembrandt's painting process, showing multiple changes and clearly demonstrating his characteristic sketchy painting style. The distinctive brushstrokes, when compared with other works by the master, convinced experts of the painting's authenticity as a genuine Rembrandt. However, the work's poor state of preservation explains the relatively moderate estimate of 5 to 7 million Swiss francs.
This price point becomes more understandable when compared to another Rembrandt work coming to auction at the same Sotheby's London house in February. "Resting Young Lion" from the collection of Rembrandt collector and philanthropist Thomas Kaplan carries an estimate of 12 million Swiss francs – notably, for a drawing rather than a painting. The condition difference between the two works likely accounts for the significant price gap between these authentic Rembrandt pieces.
The rediscovery and proper attribution of this portrait highlights the ongoing detective work in the art world, where lost masterpieces continue to surface and technical analysis helps separate authentic works from copies or school attributions. Such discoveries are particularly common in Old Master paintings, where the trail of ownership can become obscured over centuries, and authorship can fall into dispute or be forgotten entirely.
