A pair of portraits by Rembrandt have found their way into public collections. It appears that in order to settle a tax bill, Robert de Rothschild needed to sell a Rembrandt portrait he inherited from his father, Alain de Rothschild. It was one of a pair … the other owned by his brother, Éric de Rothschild (who had the two works hanging in his bedroom). Not wanting to see the two works separated, Éric decided to sell his as well. As soon as the works appeared on the market they caught the attention of the Rijksmuseum. In the end, a joint purchase was made by the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre for 160 million euros($180M).
Source: How 2 Rembrandts in a Paris Bedroom Ended Up at the Rijksmuseum
Rembrandt’s portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit