Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

FIVE-POUND REMBRANDT: London, 25 – British art dealer Reg Winter had the good fortune of finding a painting by Rembrandt, forgotten in a storeroom. The painting, a portrait of the artist’s wife Saskia van Uylenburgh, had been bought for the paltry sum of 5 pounds some 50 years ago by the wife of an art collector who believed it was by Rembrandt even though his friends and relatives made fun of him. After the couple’s death, the portrait was stored in a dingy storeroom until it was found by Winter. X-rays and ultraviolet rays revealed the signature of the artist that had been concealed by the dust of three centuries. Previously, the painting had been the property of Duke Louis of Burgundy, who died in 1711, the father of Louis XV of France. The canvas, the same as those generally used by Rembrandt, bore the duke’s seal. The painting has been valued at over 50,000 pounds. GREEK TENOR: Greek tenor Antonis Papaconstantinou had a triumphant appearance at the New Orleans Opera House last Thursday night in a production of the “Barber of Seville.” The audience gave Papaconstantinou a standing ovation.