16/11/2001

A painting acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland in 1896 for 20 pounds sterling (in old money), has been confirmed as an original Rembrandt by the Rembrandt Research Project in Amsterdam. The work, formerly ascribed to an anonymous follower, was recently examined by the project’s director, Professor Ernst van de Wetering. On the 31st October, Prof. De Wetering announced that he was “convinced that this is an autograph work by Rembrandt, painted around 1628”. The painting, known as La Main Chaude (oil on oak panel, 20 x 26 cm), depicts a popular bottom-smacking game of the 17th Century, and is an exceptionally rare example of a genre scene painted by the great Dutch Master. La Main Chaude is currently on show in The Mystery of the Young Rembrandt, a major exhibition of the artist’s early work held in Kassel, Germany. It will then be exhibited at the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam from the 20th of February to the 26th of May 2002, before returning to Dublin.