The Dutch painter Rembrandt is one of the most famous painters of all time, and also one of the biggest names in the field of art authentication. In fact, the Smithsonian founded the Rembrandt Research Project in 1968 to try to identify mislabeled paintings. Many fake ‘Rembrandt’ works exist, for a variety of reasons.

For one, Rembrandt had a large workshop, with many apprentices. Some artwork was incorrectly identified as Rembrandt’s, and later found to be painted by his students. Also, Rembrandt produced many paintings throughout his life, which makes it more difficult to create a definitive catalog of his artwork. The most important reason, of course, is Rembrandt’s reputation. Artists and dealers alike have imitated his work in hopes of capturing value.

The Rembrandt Research Project began with aims of solving this problem. The team of art historians and researchers working on the project have been using various authentication techniques on questionable paintings, comparing them with works that are definitely Rembrandt’s, like The Night Watch and Descent from the Cross. The project continues to raise controversy in the art world, as no owners want to believe a ‘Rembrandt’ in their collection is a fake.