By certifying works of art via blockchain, objects are better protected and the authenticity can be established easier and faster. An important step forward in the fight against art fraud.

A 17th-century etching by Rembrandt has been immortalized with the help of multiple blockchains to better protect the work against art fraud. The certification of Rembrandt's "The Virgin and Child in the Clouds" took place this week at Douwes Fine Art, one of the oldest art dealers in Europe.

The certification process was a collaboration between expert and registered appraiser Evert Douwes and his son Evert-Anthony (owners of the family business Douwes Fine Art), Femke Stroucken (notary and partner at law firm CMS) and Marnix van den Berg (co-founder of certification company V-ID).

Blockchain method for physical objects

The unique characteristics of the etching were first digitized with macro photography. Together with other characteristics such as material, formats, and history of the work, these photos were collected in a so-called certification file and stored in four different blockchains. Thanks to the blockchain technology, every recipient of this file can check within 5 seconds whether it is still exactly the same as when it was certified.

To check the authenticity, the embedded macro photos can be used to compare the unique details such as paper, markings, and strokes with the physical work. In principle, this method can be applied to any unique physical object such as diamonds, archaeological finds, and evidence.