Two exceptionally rare portraits by the world-renowned artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, usually simply known as Rembrandt, have been rediscovered for the first time in 200 years.

The pair of paintings were found by Henry Pettifer, international deputy chair of Old Master paintings at Christie’s Auction House, as he was doing a “routine valuation” of an anonymous family’s private art collection in the United Kingdom a couple of years ago.

Pettifer told an international publication on Monday, 15 May, that he had been “incredibly excited” to see the portraits, but “at that stage I didn’t jump to any conclusions” as they still needed to be professionally verified.

After undergoing scientific analysis, it was confirmed that the signed paintings of Rembrandt’s distant relatives were indeed authentic and dated back to 1635. Pettifer has also speculated that these might be the smallest known paintings by the Dutch artist in the world.

The paintings will be showcased in New York City, New York from 10-14 June and in Amsterdam, Netherlands from 21-24 June, before moving on to London, England from 1-6 July. The pair are expected to sell for between £5 million and £8 million on the final day of the London tour.

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