After eight years of research, the painting The Case of Saul and David has been fully attributed to Rembrandt.

The painting was bought in 1898 by Mauritshuis director Abraham Bredius who left it to the museum when he died in 1946. Bredius never doubted this was a Rembrandt painting, but when the painter’s works were reassessed in the 1960s and 1970s, Saul and David was rejected as a genuine Rembrandt by Rembrandt specialist Horst Gerson.

Since then opinions about its provenance have been divided. Was it a Rembrandt, done by one of his pupils or perhaps a joint work?

In order to answer the question once and for all, the Mauritshuis brought together an international team of experts to research and restore Saul and David.

The painting has now been declared a genuine Rembrandt and forms the centrepiece of an exhibition, together with films and photos showing the research methods and the restoration. It runs until September 13.