A Rembrandt painting valued at 3.9 million euros stolen from a French museum in the 1990s has been recovered in Nice. ‘ with a soap-bubble’ was stolen from a museum in Draguignan and it was thought that it may never again surface. The French newspaper Libération announced that two men, aged 44 and 51, had been arrested after trying to sell the painting to a dealer who contacted the police when he realised the work of art was listed on the Art Loss Register. Police and the Central office against the trafficking of cultural goods (OCBC) in southern French city Nice were than called.
The work of art was stolen in July 1999 and It is thought that it was stolen to order as a number of other valuable works including Monets and Renoirs were left behind in the robbery. The masterpiece which measures 60 x 49 cm had been located in Nice since 1794. In a report from the Art Loss Register compiled in 2012, 337 Rembrandt’s are missing making him one of the most prolific artists to be stolen.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is undisputedly Holland’s greatest artist. He was born in 1606 in Leiden the son of a wealthy miller. At the age of eighteen, Rembrandt went to Amsterdam to work for Pieter Lastman, a popular painter of the period. Six months later, he opened his own studio in Leiden. Despite being well received and talented, Rembrandt lived his final years in dire conditions. Saskia, the love of his life, died and Rembrandt’s many debts forced him to sell his house and possessions. In 1669, Rembrandt died a pauper.