Smaller perhaps... Two undiscovered Rembrandt paintings on display in the Netherlands

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Rembrandt's smallest official paintings are on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, after being rediscovered earlier this year. The two small oval paintings, hidden for almost two centuries in a private family collection, show a couple named Jan and Gabgen.

The man is a wealthy worker and plumber from the Dutch city of Leiden, while his wife appears in the second painting. After undergoing extensive research, it was confirmed that the two paintings are the works of the Dutch artist, and their value is 14.2 million US dollars.

They were unveiled as part of a long-term loan at the Rijksmuseum. “It's amazing,” said the museum's curator of 17th-century Dutch paintings, Jonathan Baker, who then added: "It's rare to find works that are completely unknown."

We really wanted to be able to display them.” According to the museum, Rembrandt likely painted the two paintings “as a favour” for Jan Williams van der Pluem, 69, and his wife, Jabjen Karlsder, 70, when he was the most sought-after portrait painter in Amsterdam.

The size of each of the two small paintings is 19.9 x 16.5 centimetres. It is likely that Rembrandt painted both paintings in 1635.

At the time, Gabgen was visiting Amsterdam for her baptism, and Becker believes she may have ordered the two paintings from Rembrandt, intending to order larger copies later. The two paintings are actually smaller versions of two large paintings not attributed to Rembrandt, but which were initially suspected to be works by the Dutch artist after Amsterdam city archivist Isabella van Eeghen discovered all four works in a 1760 auction catalog in 1977.

The Van der Ploem family had a close relationship with the Rembrandts after their son Domenicus married Rembrandt's relative, Cornelia van Swietbroek, in 1624. The art collector Henri Holtermann, whose family bought the two paintings earlier this year, has loaned them out on a long-term loan in appreciation of the Rijksmuseum's research.

The director of the Rijksmuseum, Taco Dibbets, said in a statement: “Jan and Gabgen will bring visitors closer to the Rembrandt family circle. It is wonderful that the Rijksmuseum commissioned the paintings to be displayed so that millions of people can enjoy viewing them.”