Rembrandt painting found in attic sells for more than a million dollars in US

A Rembrandt discovered in an attic has sold for 1.4 million dollars (£1.06 million).

The 17th century painting, Portrait Of A Girl, by Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was discovered by art appraiser and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux in an attic in an estate in Camden, Maine.

The painting had been in private family ownership since the 1920s, and the painting stayed with the family after being displayed in Philadelphia, the business said. The owner was not identified.

As to how it ended up in the attic, that, too, was a mystery.

A label on the back of the frame noted that it was loaned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exhibition in 1970.

“On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find,” he said in a statement. “The home was filled with wonderful pieces but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.”

Rembrandt, born in 1606, was a prolific artist who focused on a variety of subjects, from portraits to landscapes to historical and biblical scenes.

Portrait Of A Girl was painted on an oak panel and mounted in a hand-carved gold Dutch frame, said Mr Veilleux.

An auction by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Maine yielded a fierce competition on August 24, he said. In the end, a European collector paid 1.41 million dollars for the painting.