This is wild. The Catholic University of America has unveiled a Rembrandt etching in a new exhibit that went up this week at the school — but the real story is how they acquired it:
“I went into the restroom in Nugent Hall and opened a cabinet there,” [CUA president Father O’Connell] notes. “I found the paper towels but as I was closing the cabinet door, I noticed on the bottom shelf under some junk, a picture frame jutting out. I bent down, pulled out the frame only to discover an etching that looked familiar to me. Why it was there or how it got there, I’ll never know.”
Oh yes. They discovered a Rembrandt in the bathroom. Father O’Connell had it appraised last year, and they were able to authenticate it as the real deal.
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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This raises a few obvious questions, of course: O’Connell discovered the etching shortly after becoming president back in 1998, so why did it take him 10 years to have it appraised? (Though I suppose its, er, lowly origins could make you a little skeptical.) But above all, how did a Rembrandt etching end up in a CUA bathroom in the first place?
Surely there’s more to the story here. It’s just begging for a little Dan Brown-ification…
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