The attribution and age of some artworks when donated or purchased are simply believed, due to the lack of expertise in art authentication and the cost of sending them to Europe to be authenticated.
The university's Tangible Heritage Conservation, the only one of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, has developed analytical techniques to study the materiality of artworks and objects.
The paintings of Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn are displayed in prestigious art galleries in capital cities around the world.
One – a small oil painting on a wood panel depicting the profile of an old man in a hat and cloak – made its way to South Africa in the late 1950s. It was part of an extensive collection belonging to a Dutch businessman, JA van Tilburg, who emigrated to the country. In 1976 the work was donated to the University of Pretoria.
For decades, the work was attributed to Rembrandt, the world famous artist from the Dutch Golden Age of painting (1588-1672). After all, it had a good provenance. Provenance is the study of the history of an object after its creation. Typically in the case of a painting it would be the history of the ownership of the artwork.