Copy of Rembrandt portrait on display in Chicago is by the master himself, scholar claims

Art historian Gary Schwartz argues that a painting long labeled a workshop copy of Rembrandt van Rijn’s “Old Man with a Gold Chain” (1631) was actually painted by Rembrandt himself as an “autograph replica,” according to The Art Newspaper. The Art Institute of Chicago’s original has been in its collection since 1922, and since autumn 2025 it has been displayed side-by-side with the disputed version, which is slightly smaller, painted on canvas rather than panel, and on loan from the Sir Francis Newman Collection in the UK. The loaned work is on view in Chicago until June 16, 2026, and will then travel to the Herzogliches (Ducal) Museum in Gotha, Germany, for the exhibition “Rembrandt 1632: Creation of a Brand” (September 6–December 6, 2026). The article situates the claim within ongoing attribution debates, noting that the Rijksmuseum recently authenticated “Vision of Zacharias in the Temple” (1633) and that the number of accepted Rembrandt paintings has fluctuated, with the Rembrandt Research Project revising earlier totals such as Abraham Bredius’s 1935 attribution of 624 works.

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