London, July 11: A Rembrandt self-portrait that lay unseen for hundreds of years under layers of overpaint, sold for $11.3 million in London on Thursday. Auction house Sotheby's said that the price was the highest ever paid for a self-portrait of the Dutch master at auction.

Dating from 1634 when the 28-year-old Rembrandt was at the height of his fame and living in luxury in Amsterdam with his new wife Saskia, the picture is the first of his self-portraits to go to auction in three decades.
It was bought by US casino tycoon Steve Wynn in a transatlantic telephone bid, a Sotheby's spokeswoman said.

"The painting will be put on display at the Wynn Resorts Collection in Las Vegas," she said.
Rembrandt, who towards the end of his life had to sell his house and many paintings by other artists to pay off his high-living debts, painted at least 40 self-portraits. Bureau Report