X-ray reveals portrait of Rembrandt as a young man

Experts have reclassified a painting of an old man long thought to have been the work one of Rembrandt’s students as having come from the Dutch master himself.

The rethink came after X-ray analysis revealed outlines of a self-portrait of the artist as a young man underneath.

Ernst van de Wetering, of the Rembrandt Research Project, cited the new X-ray scans of the painting, Bearded Old Man, in addition to stylistic analysis and circumstantial evidence in support of the conclusion.

Mr van de Wetering dates the 6in x 8in painting to 1630, when Rembrandt was 24.

His reputation as a portraitist was rapidly growing and he was preparing to leave Leiden for Amsterdam.

The painting shows a man with unkempt white hair, lost in thought with a hint of sadness.

It will be displayed in May at the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam.