(Paris the Standard bearer de Rembrandt, a painting classified as a “national treasure” and estimated at 165 million euros ($ 235 million), will be able to be put back on the art market, the French state having finally given up on its acquisition, announced Tuesday to AFP the Ministry of Culture.
This painting, a portrait painted in 1636 at the age of 30 by the Dutch painter, belongs to private owners, members of the Rothschild family, who wished to sell it and had applied for an export certificate for this purpose in 2019, which they were denied in April of the same year, the ministry said.
French law indeed allows, specified the ministry, starting from a certain value and concerning this type of paintings, to leave to the State the possibility of buying the work for the national collections by classifying it for a period. of 30 months “national treasure”.
In 2016, the French state acquired another Rembrandt, classified as a “work of major heritage interest” and amounting to 80 million euros, the maximum it has ever spent on a painting, according to the ministry.
“This is an assumed decision taken in particular in view of the exceptional level of the price of this painting. The very dynamic acquisition policy of our museums remains unchanged, ”said the ministry.