My Rembrandt (2019) - full transcript

It's Maria de Medici.

- Is it?

Yes. It was once owned

by Princess Amalia van Solms.

But you didn't come for that.

- No. We've already got a Honthorst.

This is the composition I saw.

And this chap caught my eye.

This is Rembrandt himself.

He's in the painting.

So I started thinking:

Suppose... I'll just use the felt-tip pen.

Suppose this figure...

...and this Jesus, and this mother...

...and this gentleman with his hat...

...are all overpaintings.

That it...

- That this is a new layer...

...and that this is an old layer.

And that someone...

Painted this over the original composition

at a later date.

The only way to find out was to take an X-ray,

that would reveal the structure.

But you can't do that

going into an auction...

...so we took the gamble

and bought the painting.

So you have to imagine all of this gone.

- That's right.

Look. There you are.

Oh, my God.

- It's big, isn't it.

Gosh.

So...

There he is.

- There he is.

I opened the catalogue...

...and I thought: Huh?

Then I zoomed in and I thought:

This is Rembrandt!

I felt the blood drain away

and I thought: My God!

Then when I saw it

after they had pulled it from the rack...

...I waited till all the people

from the auction house had left.

I remember I felt like dancing.

"It's mine and mine alone."

I thought: This is real!

It was such an odd feeling.

I'm just going to have a closer look.

Let me give you some more light, Eijk.

But suppose we...

...make a deal with you.

Ethically speaking I think such a deal

shouldn't take place before you know...

...what you're getting.

This is still a work in progress.

Bless you.

- Thank you.

It's exciting.

It's given me...

...a funny feeling in my stomach.

Yes.

An art dealer...

...is only as good as his last painting.

It's the only thing that counts.

With that one painting...

...your latest purchase,

you can lose everything.

It's really thrilling.

That's what I love. I love the hunt.

There are a number of questions

you ask yourself.

Who would include Rembrandt

in such a large painting...

...when he wasn't well-known yet?

It was only later

he would become a rock star.

The only logic I could see in it...

...was the most basic logic:

He did it himself.

This isn't Rembrandt's hand.

It was painted over by a fairly naive,

unsophisticated person.

But you would expect

that what is underneath...

...will tell us why it was painted over.

It's some decision, to start scraping.

But it seems justified.

It's uncomfortable.

Removing old paint...

...not knowing who put it there.

Although fortunately we can see

it was someone who wasn't very good.

The problem is that it doesn't come

with a manual...

...saying what is Rembrandt's

and what isn't.

When the painting was brought here...

...I tried to estimate how long it will take me.

I think it will be about four years.

There are three paintings:

The Standard Bearer...

...the Portrait of Jan Six...

...which to our delight

is already in Amsterdam...

...and we hope

will stay in the family...

...and the painting...

...owned by the Duke of Buccleuch...

...which we would like to acquire.

When you see this painting...

...then...

...you fall in love on the spot.

The Duke of Buccleuch...

...one of Europe's

biggest private landowners...

...has no reason at all to sell this painting.

Yet at the back of your mind

there's always the thought:

If it ever does come on the market,

you will want to add it to your collection.

Never say never.

This would be a great start.

You turn on the camera, I'm standing here

and I say: This is the icon.

When I'm standing next to it,

it's palpable history.

When I move out of the picture,

it's just a painting.

That's because this is the first Jan Six and

I'm the tenth and there are eight in between.

I don't mean I look like him...

...because there are also nine women

in between.

Is there any resemblance

between me and the first Jan Six?

As far as I can see

he's got this mop of orange curls...

...and I certainly don't.

My Dad suggested we pose in front

of the painting with my grandfather:

"The Four Jan Sixes".

I turned around and realized: This means

more to me than I've always thought.

It's incredible being so close

to a painting like this when you grow up...

...and to an artist like this.

That's really unique.

Here in our home it's about Jan Six.

It's not about Rembrandt,

it's about the first Jan.

And his mother.

And his sister. And so on. You see?

To me they're still alive,

because this is where they live.

We have 230 of these portraits hanging here.

What's it like growing up as a Jan Six?

It's just like any other child,

but now and then...

...different.

Can you hold it up for me?

The mystery of this family and this art

inspires the imagination.

1647. Rembrandt is sitting

at the home of Jan Six...

...making a rough sketch.

Then his dog jumps up at him.

And I think...

...it's the ultimate image of friendship.

And Jan Six would have said:

"Wait a minute, I'm an intellectual."

"Portray me with some piece of paper

instead of a dog."

"A play or a poem or whatever."

Which results in the etching we all know.

You're making assumptions.

The objects are what you have,

so stick to those.

That's where we differ. I think...

I always want to look and then

understand what I can substantiate.

You look at it scientifically...

...and as a non-art historian

I can say what I like.

Sure.

The expert.

I'm postulating that there's only one truth:

the scientific truth.

He also wants it to be

about an emotional truth...

...a historical truth, a preservation truth,

a traditional truth.

They're legitimate, but to me they're not that

relevant, and I have every right to think so.

Dad, there isn't any letter, any source.

We have 19th-century historiography...

There are lots of sources we don't have.

- You can't assume things.

If I think of something now...

- That's the trouble with science.

If science doesn't know the word "orange",

you've got red and yellow.

But outside of science you can think

there's orange in between.

My problem is

I'm not gracious enough...

...to say: It doesn't really matter, Daddy.

I have to tell him how it works.

It's a principle of jurisprudence

in the Netherlands:

If it's been like this for 20 years,

it's accepted.

Nonsense.

- Unless there's proof to the contrary.

No, it has to do with progressive insight.

It's science.

Each time Rembrandt

portrays his young son...

...Titus has to listen. If Daddy says:

"Sit still, I'm going to paint your portrait,"

and it doesn't work...

...he has him do his homework

or whatever.

But as Titus gets older

and Rembrandt tells him to sit still...

...Titus says: "Listen, Dad, you've painted

my portrait eleven times now."

"I'm doing this for you,

so you have to accept the way I do this."

Titus as a Monk

is one of my favourite portraits.

His son doesn't look at him anymore.

"Yes, I'll sit for you, I know you want me to."

"But I decide the way I look."

Jan thinks of something, then he wants

to prove it, so it will be recognized.

And it's this search for recognition...

It's like that in every family.

Both father and son choose

how they treat each other.

Why are they calling this

"circle of" Rembrandt van Rijn?

At a single glance, I thought to myself:

This painting looks much better...

...than some painting

from the circle of Rembrandt.

Either this afternoon the media will report...

...a painting has been sold at Christie's

for 2,5 million euros...

2,5 million?

It's full length. It's huge.

I've been shaking for weeks.

It's so cool.

So cool.

What is the touch here

that makes you say it's a Rembrandt?

The philosophy of painting.

When Rembrandt...

...goes to paint, he starts from the shape.

First he applies this brown dead-colour...

...then he slowly works in

these fleshy tints.

He doesn't paint the whole face,

but he paints exactly what he has to.

So he leaves open...

He creates shadows by not painting them.

The X-ray image tells you that?

- You can see it. There's no flesh here.

He hasn't painted flesh tones here

because he doesn't need them.

He paints this shadow here

in accordance with the light.

The light comes in from top left,

so the lines are all in this direction.

He makes the cartilage red

as the light shines through it.

When he makes a shadow over an eye...

- The eye!

...it goes over the bulge of the eye,

then under the nose.

It's known as "Van Dyck's Shadow S",

as he came up with it first.

It doesn't go over the bulge of the eye

in any of these paintings.

But it does in all the Rembrandts.

There the face is in a different position.

It goes right across it.

We can see it, but only because you tell us.

- If you keep looking and comparing...

You have seen so much

that it looks obvious to you.

We don't see it until you tell us.

It's so blatantly obvious.

It's just my instinct.

And you flew over there.

- Yes, when I came into the room I thought:

Shit! It's good.

Tonight at the Louvre we present to you

the collection of Mr and Mrs Kaplan.

A collection...

...born out of love and fascination

for Dutch art from the Golden Age.

Good evening.

Good evening!

Guillaume!

General!

We've bought it. For 120,000 euros.

- 120,000?

Yes. Good deal, eh?

- Very good.

This will be an exciting adventure.

I'll bring the painting home quickly.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.

Unreal that this should be possible.

I'm really happy, but I'm also thinking

Christie's will be in big trouble.

They'll regret it?

They've sold a Rembrandt

for 110,000 pounds without investigating it.

Liable? Lawsuit?

So it is a Rembrandt?

- Who knows? I think so.

For sure.

It wouldn't be the first time.

You start in unknown territory.

You see an image of a painting.

You get a certain feeling,

but you have to be able to prove it.

You're in a kind of fog, working...

...on a crime scene, you could say.

You weren't there

when the murder happened...

...but you do have a dead body.

A good detective will already

have worked out who the killer is.

And you do have a painting full of clues.

Mind you, this is the only painting

in Rembrandt's entire oeuvre...

...which has turned up out of the blue

and cannot be linked to anything.

Unsigned.

But it fits perfectly in his oeuvre.

So you're always wondering

if you might be crazy.

Then you have to consider carefully

who you're going to consult...

...about how to handle this.

Ernst van de Wetering is the great

researcher, having devoted his entire life...

...to Rembrandt.

I'd always been convinced

that Rembrandt worked at great speed.

Because it is known that this man...

...sat only one day for Rembrandt.

I thought I'd try and see for myself...

...how hard it is and how he could have

done it in just one day.

But I didn't finish it.

The hardest part is...

...the collar.

You'd think a white collar

can't be that difficult.

But it's extremely complex.

What I've done here is awful.

I don't know how he did it...

...but it was done with such subtlety

and such care.

You feel you can follow the way this material

has been pleated around the neck.

This is...not lace, but starched linen.

And what is this? This is paint.

I'm deeply embarrassed...

...when I look at what I've done.

Thank God Rembrandt can't see this.

People often mistakenly think

that I was born with an obsession...

...for Rembrandt.

Actually, I wasn't.

So it was more or less by coincidence...

Of course I loved Rembrandt.

Who doesn't?

But it's not a congenital obsession.

I am obsessed by research

and by discovering the truth.

Rembrandt had many pupils,

and they learnt the trade by imitation.

So there was an overproduction

of Rembrandts...

...that weren't Rembrandts

but looked like Rembrandts...

...and were 17th-century works.

How do you decide

what is a real Rembrandt?

I've handled hundreds of Rembrandts.

I've scrutinized hundreds of paintings.

We always wanted to know

about the ground...

...about the panel and the canvas.

Does the painting show traces

of a first draft?

I counted threads of canvas...

...to see if certain paintings

came from the same role of canvas.

In this way I inched ever closer

to Rembrandt.

We're going on a secret mission

to Eric de Rothschild.

And you realize...

...that something of this significance hasn't

come on the market in the past 40 years...

...and won't come again.

You walk there and it's located...

...right off the Champs ?lys?es.

An inconspicuous little door

leads to a garden...

...where you see the old pavilion

of the big palace they had built there.

Monsieur will be here in five minutes.

Would you like a drink while you're waiting?

Champagne, Perrier, Coca-Cola,

a glass of red wine?

You come in, it's a little messy, but

a very pleasant kind of home. Not that big.

Red wine?

Not that pretentious either, but slowly

you realize that all the objects in there...

...are absolutely top drawer.

Then you notice the art...

...hanging on the walls.

That too, is of the highest quality.

We walked through a couple of

cluttered rooms with beautiful...

...overlapping carpets on the floor,

to the bedroom...

...with the two portraits on either side

of an antique bed.

It was very emotional

seeing them for the first time.

They were extremely dirty from years

of smoke, yellowed varnish and so on.

We took them down, and suddenly...

...they were at your own level...

...and you saw someone

standing in front of you.

Rembrandt's genius gives you the illusion...

...of actually facing Marten.

And you realize it's just matchless.

Well, for us at the Rijksmuseum

it meant the green light to get going.

If Rembrandts of this category

come onto the market, it means: Action!

160 million euros.

160 million, an incredible sum...

...that has never been paid for an Old Master

before. Where are we going to find it?

They were...

...on our list

of very important works...

...which are still in private hands

in France.

So obviously we at the Louvre

were greatly interested in them.

The question was the asking price...

...not whether we wanted to buy them.

We also wanted both paintings.

You never see...

...Rembrandt doing something like this.

Of course he paints hairs...

...but this is calligraphically correct,

so to speak. It's really curious.

You can come across something like this

by accident...

...but this was done with great control.

But I herewith declare myself to be blind.

That's nonsense. You're not blind.

The same goes for this.

No way is this a Rembrandt.

I have...

I'm sorry.

How terrible!

I don't feel well.

Ernst, we can do this another time.

- Ernst is having a personal crisis.

We can do it another time.

A quieter time.

I'm on the ball.

That's not the problem.

I can't tell you how...

It may seem unkind, but it isn't.

I'm sorry.

Then Wim went to Paris for a day...

...and talked to the director of the Louvre.

Jean-Luc, can we discuss the Rembrandts?

He suggested we could buy them together.

Because I didn't have 160 million euros.

The idea of a joint purchase

came up fairly quickly.

He said: Fine, but I don't have any money.

The Louvre has no money.

The asking price was very high,

but you have to try. We had to try.

Well, in the meantime...

...we at the Rijksmuseum

continued our fundraising.

And despite it being summer

we were getting somewhere.

A 10 million euro pledge.

Another 10 million.

And another 10 million.

A 20 million euro pledge.

We would definitely have managed

to get 130 to 140 million together...

...and the last bit could have been fixed.

I called Jean-Luc Martinez...

...the Louvre's director.

"Jean-Luc, how much money

have you raised so far?"

"Still nothing," he said.

It gave us at the Rijksmuseum

a real boost.

We could see it happening.

They're coming home to the Netherlands.

It didn't go down well.

They were negotiating with us

about a joint purchase.

Martinez informed his Minister for Culture

and the President that very same day.

You could say

there was a lot of commotion.

A glass of water.

Suddenly the French

put 80 million on the table.

They said: "Netherlands..."

"...we will not let you buy both works.

We won't."

Which made me very nervous.

If we don't act now...

...these works will be brutally separated.

The only thing the French respect

is ruthless negotiating.

If we could have bought them on our own,

we would have done so.

For the French, it was no longer

about these paintings.

It was about saving the Minister's face.

A diplomatic row? So what?

The French are always having rows,

it's in their DNA, it's okay.

They play hard. So what?

So what? Bring them on.

In its original state.

France said they would make the export

of one of the paintings impossible.

This threat...

...was diplomatically enough...

...for the Netherlands,

for the Minister for Culture...

...but also for the cabinet

as a whole, to say:

We don't want a row with the French

as they are obviously much bigger.

So we'll buy the works together.

Madam Minister, dear Jet,

ladies and gentlemen.

Two countries united forever.

That's us.

United like Marten Soolmans

and Oopjen Coppit.

United for eternity by Rembrandt.

Today, France has acquired

the portrait of Oopjen...

At a certain stage it becomes more than

just a deal between a seller and a buyer.

A wily French minister

getting her teeth into it.

It's like a marriage.

A Dutch Minister for Culture...

...taking other interests into account,

which puts her at a disadvantage.

Madam Minister, dear Fleur,

ladies and gentlemen.

We've got them.

Are you happy?

- Sure.

Almost.

A little.

We should have bought them quietly.

Two is more than one.

We were nearly there.

Mr President, Your Majesties, Ministers...

...dear friends, I have the pleasure

of welcoming you to the Louvre.

We are now married to your country,

Your Majesty...

...for eternity.

I wanted us to restore the paintings.

That's why we said:

Show them in Paris first.

Then when they come here,

we can restore them.

Ernst van de Wetering has spent more time

than anyone else in researching Rembrandt.

I think he has been hugely important,

but he's not the final answer.

He wasn't there. None of us were there.

He has discovered and worked out

a great deal which he is able to prove...

...but obviously a large part

remains subjective.

I think that's where there's room

for renewal and change.

It seems to me the time has come

for a new generation.

Jan Six and Marthe Wijngaarden.

Thank you.

There, the black suggests

you can see through the collar.

But there it looks superficial.

Yes, that collar is extremely flat.

There you feel...

...that it's just one line.

One straight line.

No suggestion of a shoulder.

Right. No volume.

If it is a Rembrandt...

It's very cruel to put them side by side.

Very cruel. You can't help but...

I think the face, the eyes,

are the best part of the smaller painting.

Clearly there's a difference

in the pattern of the collars.

Sure. But you should see it...

I can't say if it's a Rembrandt

without further study.

I can't really look at a painting...

...without longing for an X-ray.

And it turned out...

...there was a seam here.

A horizontal seam, which means...

...that it would have been this long...

...which would mean that it was originally

a full-length portrait.

This tiny bit of pitch black

showing up here...

...meant someone had to have been

standing next to him, or sitting.

So then I started scribbling a bit.

But now I've turned it

into a neat little sketch...

...showing what I imagine

the painting to have looked like...

...inspired by this Rembrandt painting here.

This painting, and this has often

happened to me, is a stranger to me.

And I have to get to know this stranger.

That takes a long time.

What you can clearly see here...

...is the way the collar was painted.

What he always did...

...was to add a touch of irregularity.

In this case

it's this slight curl down here.

This is typical of Rembrandt...

...and as such a strong indicator...

...of the painting's authorship

and authenticity.

What happens here is truly phenomenal.

This stunning cuff.

What is happening here,

is very adventurous indeed.

The way this stands out, the way it's

positioned in space, the way it recedes...

...going around the wrist, as it were...

...is truly masterful.

It's... This is the miracle.

A one-armed, posh gentleman.

With his delightful cuff.

This is a Rembrandt.

It's strange when a new Rembrandt like this

appears on the scene.

I've lived for so long

with all the other Rembrandts...

...and suddenly

some strange gentleman enters.

What's this guy doing in my oeuvre?

So to speak.

It was really odd.

So this is the idea:

Big headline, then the picture, because

that has to become a kind of iconic image.

We'll have the press conference

around 10 a.m...

...so everyone has time to write their articles.

NRC newspaper will have a portrait...

...that evening, and you can be on the cover

of Elsevier magazine the next day.

We're also going to have an English release

for the international press...

...as this is more than national news.

Don't you think it's a bit scary too?

You mean me personally?

- Yes.

This is about to explode

in the small community that is Amsterdam.

That's what we want, and so it should be.

- I want to tell you before it happens...

...because it will affect you too.

I'm not scared. Bring them on.

- Good.

Recall the moment you first saw it.

I took the pile of about ten catalogues

and leafed through them...

...until this page caught my eye.

I thought: Huh?

Why are they calling this

"circle of" Rembrandt?

Then I was a bit like a hound

which had got the taste of blood in its mouth.

It's this hunt.

The naughty boy...

...telling the teacher:

You're wrong and I'm right.

This is my catharsis.

As a boy from the Six family

I was always treated like:

"Little Jan has it easy."

No, little Jan worked five times harder

than all the others...

...and he was proved right.

That is the story.

Did it come?

Is it cool or is it cool?

A local boy in the window of Amsterdam's

most famous bookshop, it's a dream.

As an art history student

I used to walk in here all the time.

I have to pinch myself.

Yes, hello?

- It's RTL News.

We'd like to have a short interview

with Mr Six.

Sure. What time?

Hang on. Write this down: At 3 p.m.

you have an interview with RTL News.

Where?

- At the gallery.

Then it went for 137,000 euros

including mark-up.

Imagine your son writing a book.

I had other people write for me,

but he does his own writing, I think.

Or did you write it?

- No, he wrote it himself.

The eye of the master.

Today he became a master.

He's no longer a pupil.

He's proven himself.

Thanks to this painting I can now show

that there's more to me...

...than this family name of Six.

This proves...

...that I used my eyes, I used my brains,

and I succeeded.

It's fantastic.

We are tonight's world news.

For the first time in 40 years...

...a new Rembrandt has been discovered.

Look at that.

Unknown Rembrandt Discovered

Now have a look at page four and five.

It's Ernst's drawing. Oh, Ernst!

My word!

Hi, Jan.

- Ernst.

What a splendid suit you're wearing.

I want to give you a hug.

- You won't get dirty.

Look at this.

Walking through Paris, seeing my book...

...in bookshop windows.

It feels like a movie, but it's real.

It's fascinating.

Thank you.

Hello.

Nice to meet you.

I read your book with great pleasure.

How nice.

- A boyhood dream. I really enjoyed it.

And what a great reception in the press.

Ronit Palache, from the publisher's.

That's all her department.

It was her coup.

Thanks for coming to the Dutch residence

here in Paris in such large numbers...

...for a talk about one of the great figures

in Dutch history:

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.

Jan, may I invite you to step up here...

...before the public.

I have to ask you this, Jan:

Are potential buyers...

...queuing up already?

Not really. How many people can afford

to buy a Rembrandt and how many want to?

Domestic news.

This is today's NRC.

The digital edition.

Do you buy a Rembrandt...

...or do you buy a human being?

For this portrait...

...is so real.

You can get a real fright,

so I explain to people:

Beware, you'll walk into your sitting room

and you'll get a fright.

Here it is. Oh, my God.

"Am I supposed to swallow

Six's bullshit stories?"

What?

- Read this.

Jan Six has cheated him,

says an art dealer colleague of his.

That's quite an accusation.

That may go to court.

"Am I supposed to swallow

Six's bullshit stories?"

Apparently there was an auction

and this painting...

They were supposed to buy together?

- Yes.

Sander Bijl and Jan Six.

They'd set themselves a limit...

...and Jan just carried on bidding

beyond this limit.

That's outrageous.

But it's such a shame.

Such a great shame.

The author Geert Mak says in his book...

...that the great Rembrandt was really

quite an unpleasant character.

What was he like and how can we know this?

- We weren't there...

...so I have no idea.

But if you look at the things we do know

and you put them in a row...

...then he's not very nice.

It's all lawsuits, quarrels,

shouting, dissatisfaction.

Being tough on his pupils,

being stingy.

Compared to someone like Rubens,

he was a monster.

But that's not realistic.

If you were to put all the many quarrels

I have had in a row...

...I'd look like a real bastard too.

But I'm also quite nice.

Except they don't write about that.

You might wonder if it's actually

that important.

This is really...

I should call Jan Six.

- The language being used here...

Two good friends

suddenly falling out like this.

Jan Six, thank you.

Eijk, it's Jan.

- Hi, Jan.

Quite a lot has come out...

...over the past 24 hours.

It's a very complicated story...

...which I will explain at some point,

but which...

...I wasn't able to tell for a long time

because Martin Bijl...

...was restoring the Christ painting.

It was a secret to the outside world

that Bijl senior was working on this.

But the painting was there and Martin

had no way of hiding it from his son.

Because of the Rembrandt

in his father's studio...

...Sander knew that Jan Six

had an exceptional eye...

...for discovering Rembrandts.

When Six saw the Portrait of a Young Man

being put up at a London auction...

...he made sure he kept his interest

to himself.

He did consult Rembrandt expert

Ernst van de Wetering.

The first one who came to me...

...to ask my opinion about this painting,

was Jan.

But Ernst is also a close friend

of Martin Bijl, Sander's Dad.

At some stage...

...Sander asked me what I thought

of this painting.

He sent me a photo

that Christie's had sent to him.

When I got this photo, I thought:

What is this? Is it unfinished?

So I sent it on to Ernst.

If someone asks me if I have seen it...

...yes, I have seen it,

as Jan Six has shown it to me.

In the art world, someone's interest in a work

means an immediate increase in its value...

...particularly if the interested party

has the track record...

...Jan Six had even before the unveiling

of Rembrandt's Portrait of a Young Man.

So Jan had every reason

to hide his interest in this painting.

Which he did.

Even so, Sander got wind of it.

Who told him? Ernst van de Wetering.

That is childish, really...

...because everyone saw the illustration

in that catalogue and thought:

This looks fairly Rembrandtesque.

If I screw this all up, darling...

Darling, you're not going to

screw this up. Look at me.

You're an honest person.

There's nothing to screw up if you're honest.

Hello?

Hi, Eijk, it's Frits.

- Hi, Frits.

This should never have come out

in this way.

Jan shouldn't have done this.

If he'd bought it together with Sander Bijl,

there would have been no trouble at all.

They have to hush it up somehow,

as it's not good...

...for either their future or for business.

It's too late to hush this up.

Jan Six.

NRC has published an interview...

...with a colleague of yours,

art dealer Sander Bijl...

...who is well known to you?

- Certainly.

He calls you a cheat, not to beat

around the bush, and says...

...you cheated him over the purchase...

...of the Portrait.

He was under the impression...

...you would be buying this Rembrandt...

...together. Is that true?

No. I already had this other investor, you see.

Why didn't you tell him that?

- I couldn't, because of the confidentiality.

It didn't matter to me.

I had an investor prepared to pay millions.

And frankly I'm under no obligation

towards Sander Bijl.

Couldn't you have said, sorry, but...

If there had been too much of a stir...

...Christie's might even have withdrawn it

from the auction.

In the end it's all about money.

Yes, but also...

...about recognition. I'm no psychiatrist...

...but Jan seems to have a great need

to put himself forward.

It's not about that. It's about...

When he approached me,

I wondered where he got this information.

I could only assume that Professor

Van de Wetering had shot his mouth off.

Huge interests can be at stake...

...involving tens of millions of euros.

Can I remain pure?

Well, I...

You shouldn't talk to me about money.

I don't want to discuss that at all.

I couldn't care less about the value...

...except as a work of art.

I hate all that talk about cash

that gets mixed up in the discussion.

As if it matters.

Those paintings belong to us all.

Double-dealing in the art world

over the discovery of a new Rembrandt.

Two art dealers claim to have found it.

One carried off the prize,

the other accuses him of cheating.

Ernst van de Wetering, the world's

foremost Rembrandt expert...

...has been drawn into it and

is being accused of foul play.

You're 80 years old,

you've made a very long career...

...out of identifying Rembrandt's work...

...and now something unpleasant like this

happens at this point in your career.

I understand Jan Six called you tonight.

I'm too tense right now.

I need to...

Yes. He said: "Ernst, what's going on?"

Well, it was all over the newspapers...

...so I said: "If anyone knows

what is going on, it's you."

I called him a shit

and slammed down the phone.

I have never before broken off relations

with someone...

...like I did tonight.

Sad.

I don't feel well at all.

This is so incredibly stressful,

I have to collect myself.

Just give me a moment.

He has a good eye, so...

...I don't mind buying a painting off him.

He has a good eye.

- Absolutely.

I agree with you there.

I'll think about it.

Bye, Eijk.

- Goodbye.

This should never have happened.

It's a shame.

A real shame.

But we can concentrate...

...on buying this painting, Rose.

Yes.

Incredible.

It's giving me goose bumps.

The Louvre and the Rijksmuseum

are now closely connected.

And the Louvre is and will remain

the most visited museum in the world.

Over there you can see them

in an international context...

...and here at the Rijksmuseum, which

has more Rembrandts than any other...

...you can see them "at home".

So, I'm happy.

Welcome home.

We at the Rijksmuseum

are immensely proud...

...that we can now show them

to the world.

Where are they?

Who are they?

Marten and Oopjen.

One etching really caught my eye

this year:

Abraham and his son Isaac.

A father sacrificing his son to God.

It's an extremely intense moment,

very grim.

Rembrandt was much affected

by the father-son relationship.

And I suspect...

...that he also painted this scene.

And we don't know the painting.

Wouldn't it be great if that painting

suddenly turned up?

I suspect it might just be

my next discovery.