Netherlands ready to pay 150 mn euros for Rembrandt painting

The Dutch government said Wednesday it would contribute 150 million euros ($170 million) to bring a Rembrandt self-portrait set to be sold by the Rothschild family back to the Netherlands.

Paris had said Tuesday that it would allow a sale on the open market even though the work, a self-portrait titled "The Standard-Bearer" valued at 165 million euros, is classed as a "national treasure" in France.

If the 150 million euros of public cash are approved by the Dutch parliament, the Rembrandt Association would add 15 million euros to the pot and the Rijksmuseum fund 10 million.

"'The Standard-Bearer' is one of Rembrandt's absolute masterpieces and inextricably tied to the history of the Netherlands," the culture ministry in The Hague said in a statement.

"Now is the opportunity to acquire a last Rembrandt of this class," it added, pointing out that the work "was in private hands for centuries, including the king of England and since 1844 the Rothschild family".

Rembrandt painted "The Standard-Bearer" in 1636 when he was 30 years old.

"'The Standard-Bearer' is coming home for good after a journey of several centuries," Netherlands culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven said in the statement.

Taco Dibbits, director of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, which hosts 22 of Rembrandt's roughly 340 paintings, said that "we have been dreaming for generations of bringing 'The Standard-Bearer' to our country".

"The quality and the fact that this painting marks Rembrandt's breakthrough as an artist make it an unmatched work from the master," he added.