Rembrandt copy was copied by the master himself

Long-assumed to be a copy by one of Rembrandt van Rijn's students, the Old Man with a Gold Chain in a UK collection is now thought by a leading art expert to be the work of the master himself.

…a study by the Hamilton Kerr Institute, at the University of Cambridge, found that the UK version's canvas and colour pigments matched those used by Rembrandt and his studio. It also found that it had the same oil-bound, double-ground layer as eight Rembrandt paintings dating from 1632 and 1633. The Art Institute of Chicago said that after reviewing infrared scans, X-rays and pigment analysis, differences in the two works suggested the UK version was a workshop reproduction. But they acknowledged that "the conversation about the purpose and authorship of these copies continues to evolve".

The undisputed version (right) is owned by the Art Institute of Chicago, and is currently joined there by the extremely similar painting (left) of the same man wearing a gold chain and plumed hat

The other portrait, which is slightly smaller and painted on canvas, is on loan from Sir Francis Newman, a Cambridge-based entrepreneur, and is labelled as a "copy" by an artist in Rembrandt's workshop.

However, the Rembrandt scholar Gary Schwartz has concluded that both are by the master. In addition to the quality of the brushwork, he argued, many Dutch artists of the period created replicas of their own paintings.

In 1699, a French near-contemporary of Rembrandt observed: "There is hardly any painter [in the Netherlands] who did not repeat one of his works because he liked it, or because someone asked him to make one exactly the same."

The contested version was bought by the current owner's great-grandfather in 1898 "as a Rembrandt," but when the other appeared it was discounted as a "clever reproduction." But X-ray and infrared imaging of it is consistent with Rembrandt's own work, Schwartz told The Guardian, whereas the expert behind the earlier disattribution gave "no serious reasons for his contention."

Previously:
• Disputed Rembrandt is real, say experts
• A painting kicked out of Rembrandt's catalog in 1960 just got kicked back in
• Researcher explains the appeal of Rembrandt paintings