A museum in the Netherlands said the portrait was not by Rembrandt, and the provincial auction house in England was only advertising it as a work by one of his followers — valued at $3,078. But when 15 minutes of bidding on the painting ended Friday, it had sold for $4.5 million.
The Young Rembrandt as Democrates the Laughing Philosopher," a 9.5-by-6.5 inch portrait of a young man.