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At the end of last year, the Netherlands showed its willingness to pay 169 million dollars for Rembrandt’s ‘The Standard Bearer’ (1636), a painting owned by the familia Rothschild, as confirmed by the Ministry of Culture of the country. The announcement came a few days following France announced that the work, classified as ‘National Treasure’ and whose estimated value was 186 million dollars, was going to return to the art market, since the French State had finally renounced its acquisition: «’The Standard Bearer’ is one of Rembrandt’s masterpieces. For centuries, it has been in private hands, especially in the possession of the King of England and since 1844 of the Rothschild family. Now is the opportunity to acquire a Rembrandt of this caliber.”
Today, the Dutch Senate has given the green light to the purchase of Rembrandt by €175 million. The Dutch Government will contribute €150 million, while the Rembrandt Association and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will contribute the remaining €25 million. The final price was 10 million euros more than previously anticipated. ‘The Standard Bearer’ will be exhibited in all provinces of the Netherlands following its purchase by the state.
Despite the vote in favour, many senators expressed their worry regarding the purchase, according to ‘The Art Newspaper’. And it is that the work will be bought from the Rothschild family through a trust located in the Cook Islands, whose holding company is in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, both tax havens, reports ‘The Guardian’. They are concerned that the government cannot be sure of the authenticity of the work or its ownership, given the opaque nature of the purchase. In addition, they also questioned the timing of the acquisition during the pandemic.
Culture Minister Gunay Uslu admitted she felt “uncomfortable” that the sale had taken place during the pandemic, but said it was a unique opportunity: «There is no other work from his Baroque period in the collections of the Netherlands; is he prelude to ‘The Night Watch’, and Rembrandt distinguishes himself here for the first time as a rebellious artist. Furthermore, this painting is inextricably linked to the history of the Netherlands. painting, a self portrait Three-quarter length, it was loaned to the Rijksmuseum in 2019 for its ‘Rembrandt-Velázquez’ exhibition.
