Dutch scientists identify painting as a Rembrandt

AMSTERDAM | Mon Dec 5, 2011 5:56am EST

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A painting known as "Old man with a beard" has been identified as a Rembrandt work thanks to the discovery of a hidden image underneath the paint.

The painting, owned by a private collector, shows the head of an elderly man with tufts of white hair and a white beard.

Professor Joris Dik from Delft University of Technology told Reuters that x-ray techniques had revealed a very rough unfinished self-portrait by the artist underneath the image of the old man.

Ernst van de Wetering, a Dutch expert on Rembrandt, said that the painting was done using a technique very similar to that used by Rembrandt when he lived in Leiden in 1630.

He said an identical image of the old man appeared in a reproduction dating from 1633 with an inscription stating that it was made by Rembrandt -- further evidence that the painting itself was by Rembrandt.

The painting will go on loan to the Rembrandthuis, Rembrandt's former house and studio in Amsterdam, and will be on show from May to July next year.

(Reporting By Liza Jansen, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Vending machine offers DIY banners at Dutch airport

Two-year-old Luna (L) and her aunt hold a banner at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol November 24, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Paul Vreeker/United Photos

By Roberta Cowan

AMSTERDAM | Fri Nov 25, 2011 4:35am EST

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Ever wanted to meet and greet your loved ones at the airport to be sure they don't miss you in the crowds?

Then try Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, which now has the world's first vending machine capable of printing out personalised giant canvas banners in just a few minutes.

You can pick your message, whether that is "Missed you Mummy", "I love you", "Will you marry me?", or anything else that makes you stand out from the crowd, choose the font and background design, pay between four and 15 eurosdepending on the length of the banner, and hit the button.

"We came up with the idea because when we were at the airport we'd see all these people welcoming their friends and family with their own banners made of bed sheets and we thought what a hassle using sheets, wouldn't it just be easier to make the banner at the airport," BannerXpress's co-founder Thibaud Bruna told Reuters on Thursday.

Bruna's first machine, which was three years in the making, made its debut at Schiphol on Thursday. If the waterproof banners prove popular, he hopes to install the vending machines in other locations.

"We hope have them in other airports, but also in stadiums for sporting and music events," Bruna said.

(Reporting By Roberta B. Cowan, editing by Paul Casciato)

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