![Rembrandt van Rijn’s 'Self-portrait, wearing a ruff and black hat' [detail], 1632, has sold for £14.7 million. Photo © Sotheby's](https://images.prismic.io/barnebys/65a88992-63a0-46c7-89ed-cf2563606fc7_Cover.jpg?auto=compress,format)
When Sotheby's London held an auction on July 28 – its first live London sale since government-mandated closures in response to coronavirus – it ended with a new auction record for the 17th-century master Rembrandt van Rijn. The oil painting Self-portrait, wearing a ruff and black hat, is now the artist's most expensive self-portrait sold at auction.
Among the six stubborn bidders who participated, the one who was willing to pay $18.7 million won out.
See also: Small Museum Discovers Rembrandt in its Collection
In total, Rembrandt is believed to have painted about 80 self-portraits, and only three are privately owned, the rest residing in large museum collections. This self-portrait is believed to have been painted at the end of 1632, when Rembrandt was only 26 years old.
