Ernst van de Wetering, the leading authority of the Rembrandt Research Project, has reattributed 70 paintings to the Dutch master in the project’s final volume. This significant shift includes reinstating 44 works that were previously stripped of their authenticity by the project's earlier democratic voting process, which van de Wetering now describes as flawed and overly restrictive. The new findings bring the total count of surviving Rembrandt paintings to 340.
The reattributions have sparked immediate debate within the museum world, highlighting the tension between individual expertise and institutional consensus. While smaller museums like the Joslyn Art Museum have embraced the news to boost attendance, major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery remain skeptical. These disputes underscore the massive financial and scholarly stakes involved in Old Master provenance, where a single attribution can transform a study piece into a world-class masterpiece.