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Rembrandt’s Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis for sale

Rembrandt - La conspiración de Claudius Civilus, 1666

Rembrandt – Conspiracy of the Batavians Under Claudius Civilis, 1666

A masterwork by Rembrandt is for sale only if the buyer agree to donate it to a Swedish Museum ]]>

March 17th 2008 – Would you pay $49 million for a supreme masterpiece by Rembrandt? Maybe. But, would you pay $49 million for that work if you know that you’ll have to donate it just after the sale? That’s difficult, though the greatest art museums in the works have been created thanks to the generosity of donors and benefactors. But finally… Would you pay $49 million for the painting if the work has been on the museum’s collection for almost 150 years? It looks impossible. Nevertheless, that donor is what the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and the Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum are trying to find.

The work, “Conspiracy of the Batavians Under Claudius Civilis” is one of Rembrandt’s greatest masterworks, painted at the heights of the artist’s skills, in 1666. The work belongs to the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, an Institution that is trying to raise money for new exhibitions, and it’s for sale for much less than its estimate value of $120 million given the special terms of the sale: the buyer must agree to donate the work to Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum, where the masterpiece has been exhibited since 1866.

Lets see how this story ends. Maybe the $49 million could be spent in another great Rembrandt, Otto Naumann’s “Minerva”. Of course, this work is not a supreme masterpiece as the “Conspiracy”, but it would be a REAL acquisition for the Nationalmuseum.

 

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Rembrandt's Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis for sale