Description
Christie's 2023 'Classic Week' sales include a pair of portraits by Rembrandt that the world had forgotten about for almost 200 years. The portraits of relatives of the artist, Jan Willemsz van der Pluym and his wife Jaapgen Carels, were last sold at auction by Christie's on 18 June 1824, and are now being offered for sale by descendants of the same family. They are the only pair of portraits by Rembrandt remaining in private hands, and are expected to sell for between five and eight million pounds (between around six and nine million euros). Other items being sold include a dramatic letter by Mozart to a close friend explaining that he will need to get married within two days to stop his future mother in law sending the police to remove his future wife from his house, where she was already living despite their not being married. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES