The Rijksmuseum reveals that the painting is an early work by Rembrandt art

The painting had been hanging on the wall of a private home for decades, but the 17th century painting has now been revealed to be a Rembrandt, taking its potential value from thousands to millions of pounds.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam announced Monday that it has rediscovered an early writing scene by the Dutch artist previously thought to be lost, thanks to a high-tech survey and two years of expert analysis.

Since the 1960s, the Vision of Zechariah in the Temple, dated 1633, has been attributed to Rembrandt’s “workshop”, meaning it is believed to have been created by a lesser-known artist such as Jan Levens or Salomon Koninck.

But it is in fact the work of the ancient artist, the Dutch Museum announced as it prepared to display the painting this week. Taco Dibbets, general director of the Rex Museum, said he was approached by a couple several years ago who had inherited a modest-looking painting from their father.

“It was really dark,” Dibbets said. “But when it was restored, I came to see it and it looked like gold was exploding from it – which is of course wonderful because he painted in yellow and not gold. That’s what makes the artist a true artist… He’s classic Rembrandt.”

The painting depicts the biblical story of the High Priest Zechariah (also known as Zechariah), who was visited by the archangel Gabriel and told that he and his wife – despite their advanced age – would have a son, John, later John the Baptist. It does not appear as an angel, but rather a bright light in one of the corners, and the priest’s face is in disbelief.

Jonathan Baker, curator of 17th-century Dutch painting at the Rijksmuseum and author of an academic article in the Burlington Journal about attribution, said the find was exceptional. He and the article’s co-author, Petria Nobel, argue that the painting was discredited in 1969 by the scholar Horst Gerson and subsequent researchers in the Rembrandt Research Project on the basis of low-resolution photographs rather than an examination of the work itself.

However, the Rijksmuseum has matched its paint pigments to works by Rembrandt van Rijn from the same period. Macro X-ray examinations showed typical changes in composition, and analysis of the wood panel dated the painting to 1633.

The painting’s owners, who asked to remain anonymous but are believed to be European, said their father bought it from Amsterdam art dealer P. de Boer in 1961.

“It was as if there was a gray veil over the painting,” Baker said. “They had already started processing the restoration, and they just wanted to know who it was so the restorer could look at other paintings. If they were by Jan Levens, he could look at Jan Levens.”

He added that they did not dare to believe that it might actually be that of the young Rembrandt.

“The couple who owned it brought it here and were making jokes,” he said. “Look how big this signature is. It must be Rembrandt! It says Rembrandt in big letters!” But it was also a surprise to them that it was a real Rembrandt, because as soon as the father bought it, the attribution had been taken away from it.

Although the Rijksmuseum has not commented on the value, Rembrandt’s Workshop paintings are typically worth tens or hundreds of thousands of euros. In contrast, the Rex Museum recently bought a Rembrandt for €175m (£153m). With the addition of Zechariah’s vision in the temple, 25 Rembrandt paintings will be on display starting Wednesday, the largest collection in the world.