Rembrandt Attribution Debate Emerges as Two Versions of Old Man with a Gold Chain Displayed Together in Chicago

Two versions of Rembrandt van Rijn's 1631 painting Old Man with a Gold Chain are currently exhibited side by side at the Art Institute of Chicago, sparking scholarly debate about their authorship. One version, a life-sized panel, has been part of the museum's collection since 1922. The other, a slightly smaller canvas, has been owned by the family of British entrepreneur Francis Newman for 127 years. After the panel's emergence, experts previously classified the canvas as a workshop copy. However, Rembrandt scholar Gary Schwartz contends that the canvas was actually painted by the master himself, citing its exceptional quality and absence of compositional revisions. The canvas was recently examined at the University of Cambridge's Hamilton Kerr Institute, which did not overturn the earlier assessment. Advanced technical analysis conducted by the Art Institute confirmed that the canvas originated from Rembrandt's studio based on pigment composition. Researchers noted that the consistent outlines and specific details, such as precisely rendered eyelashes, indicate the canvas painter had direct access to the panel. The museum's team believes the panel is the original, as X-rays reveal underlying compositional changes, while the canvas shows no such alterations. Further distinctions include differences in brushwork techniques for elements like the earring and variations in pigment application. Schwartz argues that if Rembrandt needed to produce a replica for a client, as was common practice, he might have delegated the task to a pupil, but the canvas's high quality suggests Rembrandt executed it himself shortly after completing the original. The canvas will be displayed in Chicago until June 16, after which it will travel to Wilhelmshöhe Palace in Kassel, Germany, for an exhibition titled "Rembrandt 1632. Creation of a Brand," where it will still not be officially attributed to Rembrandt. This debate occurs alongside recent Rijksmuseum research that authenticated another disputed work, Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, as a genuine Rembrandt.