December 2nd will mark an exciting day for Out of the Shadows and its team. One of the paintings studied in the film, Old Man with a Beard, is being displayed for the first time since it was definitively attributed to Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn.
The painting serves as one of the primary subjects of Out of the Shadows. In the film, scientists use a variety of techniques to analyze the piece. Using x-ray radiography and infrared reflectography, researchers were able to learn of a possible second painting – an “underpainting” – beneath Old Man with a Beard. Using a variety of more advanced techniques, they were able to confirm the existence of the underpainting, and to discover its subject. These processes revealed a hidden self-portrait of Rembrandt himself. In combination with other chemical tests, this information was crucial to finally attributing Old Man with a Beard as an authentic Rembrandt. Tomorrow’s events in Amsterdam will celebrate this groundbreaking discovery.
To start the day, the painting and its recent attribution will be honoured at the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange, as part of the prestigious gong ceremony that opens the day’s trading. Out of the Shadows’ writer, director and producer Kevin Sullivan and several of the key scientists involved in discovering the painting’s true history will be present to take part in the excitement.
The painting is on loan from a private collector, and will be displayed on site at the Rembrandt House for one day only. The researchers featured in Out of the Shadows, Ernst van de Wetering (Emeritus Professor of Art History at the University of Amsterdam and head of the Rembrandt Research Project), Martin Bijl (restorer), Joris Dik (professor at the Delft University of Technology), and Koen Janssens (professor at the University of Antwerp), will be giving a presentation describing the attribution process, the “underpainting” of Old Man with a Beard, and the markers that indicate the painting to be Rembrandt’s. Kevin Sullivan will be in attendance for this momentous event.
To learn more about the science behind Out of the Shadows, view the event’s press release, or visit hiddenmasterpieces.com.
Out of the Shadows is available on ShopatSullivan.com
