Opening Bid $250 for the Painting—Final Bid Over $1 Million

It seems unlikely that anyone would find a lost Rembrandt painting, but that is what happened in New Jersey in September 2015. A 12 ½ by 10 inch oil on board painting pictured two men trying to revive a woman who had fainted with a handkerchief, no doubt with smelling salts. No one seemed to notice the painting (estimated at $500 to $800) before the sale and the first bid was $250. There were a few bids from the floor, then a battle of online European bidders erupted. Final price: $1,087,500. The painting had been identified as the work of Rembrandt. Title: “The Unconscious Patient, An Allegory of the Sense of Smell,” part of a series on the Five Senses painted about 1625.