博物馆的伦勃朗仿制品原来是真品

博物馆的伦勃朗仿制品原来是真品

Thanks to modern technology and some expert detective work, a nearly 400-year-old painting that had long been attributed to an unknown artist in Rembrandt’s workshop has now been judged to have been a work of the Dutch master himself.

多亏了现代科技和一些专业的侦探工作，伦勃朗画室里一幅有近400年历史、长期被认为出自一位无名艺术家之手的画作，现在被鉴定为是这位荷兰大师本人的作品。

For decades, the Allentown Art Museum displayed an oil-on-oak panel painting called “Portrait of a Young Woman” and credited it to “Studio of Rembrandt.” Two years ago, the painting was sent to New York University for conservation and cleaning.

几十年来，艾伦顿艺术博物馆(Allentown Art Museum)展出了的一幅名为《年轻女子肖像》(Portrait of a Young Woman)挂在橡木板上的油画，署名“伦勃朗的画室”。两年前，这幅画被送到纽约大学保存和清洗。

There, conservators began removing layers of overpainting and dark, thick varnish that had been added over centuries — and they began to suspect Rembrandt himself was responsible for the original, delicate brushwork underneath.

在那里，文物保护人员开始移除几世纪以来添加的过多的油漆和深色的厚漆层——他们开始怀疑伦勃朗本人要对下面原始的精致的笔触负责。

“Our painting had numerous layers of varnish and that really obscured what you could see of the original brushwork, as well as the original color,” said Elaine Mehalakes, vice president of curatorial affairs at the Allentown Art Museum.

阿伦敦艺术博物馆(Allentown Art Museum)负责策展事务的副总裁伊莱恩·迈哈雷斯(Elaine Mehalakes)说，“我们的画上有很多层清漆，这真的让你看不清原来的笔法和颜色。”

Conservators used a variety of tools, including X-ray, infrared and electron microscopy, to bolster the case that it was the work of one of the most important and revered artists in history.

文物保护人员使用了各种工具，包括x射线、红外线和电子显微镜，来证实这是历史上最重要、最受尊敬的艺术家之一的作品。

The scientific analysis “showed brushwork, and a liveliness to that brushwork, that is quite consistent with other works by Rembrandt,” said Shan Kuang, a conservator at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts who restored “Portrait of a Young Woman.”

纽约大学美术学院(New York University 's Institute of Fine Arts)修复“一位年轻女子的肖像”的管理员Shan Kuang说，科学分析“显示，这幅画的画风，以及这种画风的活泼，与伦勃朗的其他作品非常一致。”

Outside experts who examined the 1632 painting after the completion of its two-year restoration concurred with the NYU assessment that it’s an authentic Rembrandt.

经过两年的修复后，外部专家对这幅1632年的画作进行了研究，他们认为这幅画是伦勃朗的真迹。

“We’re very thrilled and excited,” Mehalakes said. “The painting has this incredible glow to it now that it just didn’t have before. You can really connect with the portrait in the way I think the artist meant you to.”

“我们非常激动和兴奋，”Mehalakes说。“这幅画现在有一种令人难以置信的光彩，这是它以前所没有的。你可以真正地以我认为艺术家想让你去的方式与这幅画像联系起来。”

When “Portrait of a Young Woman” was bequeathed to the museum in 1961, it was considered to be a Rembrandt. About a decade later, a group of experts determined that it had been painted by one of his assistants. Such changes in attribution are not unusual: Over the centuries, as many as 688 and as few as 265 paintings have been credited to the artist, according to Mehalakes.

1961年《一个年轻女人的肖像》被遗赠给博物馆时，被认定是伦勃朗的作品。大约十年后，一组专家断定这幅画是他的一位助手画的。这种归属上的改变并不罕见:据Mehalakes说，在过去的几个世纪里，多达688幅、只有265幅画被认为是这位艺术家的作品。

The museum has not had the painting appraised — and has no intention of selling it — but authenticated works by Rembrandt have fetched tens of millions of dollars.

博物馆还没有对这幅画进行估价，也没有出售的打算，但伦勃朗的真迹已经卖出了数千万美元。

The painting, currently in the museum’s vault, will go on public display starting June 7.

这幅画目前存放在博物馆的保险库里，将于6月7日开始公开展出。