02 Paintings, Joshua Reynolds Repainted Rembrandt's Masterpiece, Susanna and the Elders

Rembrandt  (1606–1669)

Susanna and the Elders, c. 1647

Oil on mahagony

Height: 76.6 cm (30.1 in); Width: 92.8 cm (36.5 in)

Gemäldegalerie

Berlin's Gemäldegalerie announced they've made a shocking discovery about the museum's Rembrandt masterpiece Susanna and the Elders (1647), Focus reports. An X-ray analysis of the oil painting has revealed that the it had at one time undergone extensive alterations.

According to the daily Berliner Morgenpost art restorer Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, who conducted the analysis, noticed tiny pigments on the canvas that didn't exist in the 17th century. What's more, some parts of the painting were in a style that she didn't recognize as Rembrandt's. She found out that in the 18th century large parts of the painting were simply painted over, and entire sections were washed out using solvents and re-painted in a more modern, light shade. More on this painting

Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an influential eighteenth-century English painter, specialising in portraits. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, and was knighted by George III in 1769. More on Sir Joshua Reynolds

The altered areas of the painting are represented in green

Photo: Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg via Berliner Morgenpost

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the Dutch Golden Age when Dutch Golden Age painting dominated Europe, was extremely prolific and innovative, and gave rise to important new genres in painting.

Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, Rembrandt's later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships. Yet his etchings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, his reputation as an artist remained high, and for twenty years he taught many important Dutch painters. His self-portraits form a unique and intimate biography, in which the artist surveyed himself without vanity and with the utmost sincerity.

In his paintings and prints he exhibited knowledge of classical iconography, which he molded to fit the requirements of his own experience; thus, the depiction of a biblical scene was informed by Rembrandt's knowledge of the specific text, his assimilation of classical composition, and his observations of Amsterdam's Jewish population. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called "one of the great prophets of civilization. More on Rembrandt

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