The first of the “grand masters” in art has officially gone on blockchain. One of Rembrandt’s 17th-century etchings has been validated and thus, immortalized through the power of blockchain. The ultimate goal is to protect the art work from art fraud.
The etching in question is the famous “The Virgin and Child in the Clouds”. The validation of the painting happened just last week at the Douwes Fine Art, or what is known to be one of the most esteemed and oldest art dealers in Europe.
According to press, the blockchain validation process was a collaboration between expert and registered appraiser Evert Douwes and his son Evert-Anthony (owners of the family business Douwes Fine Art), Marnix van den Berg (co-founder of the validation company called V-ID) and Femke Stroucken (partner at the law firm CMS).
All specific characteristics of the etching were first processed with macro photography. These digital copies are then stored in 4 different blockchain and collected in 1 validation file.
Luckily for all art lovers, the blockchain allows everyone to see the exact characteristics of the original work of art as they actually are. This minimizes the potential fraud, which is one of the most commonplace “worries” of art dealers and even modern-day painters.
The technology can essentially be used for different objects, including diamonds and archeological findings. Lastly, the validation process of “The Virgin and Child in the Clouds” takes fewer than 5 seconds.