Etching found at Catholic University may be a Rembrandt

By Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 13, 2010; B02

Soon after becoming president of Catholic University, the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell went in search of paper towels in his bathroom cabinet. Something on the bottom shelf caught his eye. Under a pile of junk, he found an old frame.

In the frame was a tiny etching of an old man with an unruly beard and billowing hat, composed of thousands of fine lines. His eyes are tired. His head nods toward his chest.

The piece is signed "Rembrandt."

O'Connell added the etching to his personal art collection and showed it off to visitors. A dozen years passed, and he never investigated whether the etching was truly created by the famous 17th-century Dutch painter and printmaker Rembrandt Van Rijn.

Then about a year ago, he called the university's archivist to his home and presented her with the mystery.

"We saw his name twice on the piece, but we still couldn't believe that's what this was," said Leslie Knoblauch, the school's records management archivist. "Who finds a Rembrandt randomly in their home?"

Knoblauch took the piece to her office, called an appraiser and sent him photos of the piece. He reported back that O'Connell's find was, indeed, a Rembrandt.

To show off the find, Knoblauch and her assistant, Paul Westley Bush, organized an art exhibit they decided to call,"Fine Lines: Discovering Rembrandt and Other Old Masters at Catholic University." It features other works -- drawings, etchings, engravings and woodcuts -- that have been a part of the university's art collection for years but have not been shown to the public. The free exhibit opened Monday and runs through May 24.


But one mystery remains: How did that Rembrandt find its way into a bathroom cabinet?