Painting of Russian nobleman reveals Rembrandt self-portrait

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Art researchers have identified a Rembrandt self-portrait that was altered more than 300 years ago into the likeness of a Russian nobleman, the Rembrandt House Museum said Thursday.

The restored portrait shows the Dutch master with medium-length curly hair, a slightly upturned mustache and a beret. In it, Rembrandt's portrait has the familiar round chin and gentle eyes of many other self studies.

The original portrait from 1634, painted when Rembrandt was 28, was later painted over, apparently by a student in Rembrandt's studio. The student added earrings, a goatee, shoulder-length hair and a velvet cap to make it appear to be a Russian aristocrat, said museum spokeswoman Anna Brolsma.

The Rembrandt Research Project, a group of scholars whose task is to authenticate the hundreds of paintings done by Rembrandt van Rijn, was asked by a private collector to investigate the piece in 1995, said Brolsma. The French owner was not identified.

Although the portrait clearly resembled Rembrandt and bore his signature, the researchers at first felt it could not be genuine because it lacked the master's finesse. It took them six years to remove the layers of added paint with a scalpel.

The researchers gave the portrait to the museum on Thursday where it will be on display until mid-March.

Brolsma said the possible creator of the altered work was Govert Flinck, a Rembrandt student who later became well known in his own right and died in 1660.

The museum released a series of three early photographs of the painting as it underwent cleaning, beginning in 1935. Each photograph, taken about 30 years apart, shows more overlying paint stripped away.

It was unclear how much the 44.3-inch by 34.5-inch wood-panel painting was worth, but recent Rembrandts have brought more than $30 million.