THE National Trust is preparing for an influx of visitors to Buckland Abbey, following the news that it has an original Rembrandt painting valued at close to £20-million hanging on the walls of the former home of Sir Francis Drake.

The world's leading expert on the Dutch Master has confirmed that the self-portrait which adorns the dining hall is the trust's first ever Rembrandt in its collection of 13,500 paintings.

Given to the charity in 2010 as a gift, the painting could never be sold as the National Trust cares for items for public benefit forever.

For the last 40 years the painting's provenance has been shrouded in mystery after specialists concluded that the portrait of Rembrandt was produced by one of his pupils.

But now, after years of studying the Dutch Master's style, and following a new investigation of the painting by Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering, the painting has been reattributed as being a self-portrait .

The painting of the 29-year-old Rembrandt, dated 1635, will remain on display for the next eight months at Buckland before going away for painstaking cleaning and further investigation.

This work will cost £20,000 and has been provided by the People's Postcode Lottery. The work of art will then be returned to the property for visitors to enjoy once again in 2014.

Manager of the property Jez McDermott said: 'It's amazing to think we might've had an actual Rembrandt hanging here on the walls of Buckland Abbey for the past couple of years.

'We never dared think it was an original and many of our visitors will have just passed by it, in what is sure to be a real contrast to the attention it is now going to receive. Buckland's Rembrandt is certain to become one of the many highlights of the property for visitors to enjoy.'

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is generally considered one of the greatest painters in European art history and widely regarded as one of the most prolific self-portraitists ever with experts estimating that he painted 40 to 50 pictures of himself in oils.

Ernst van de Wetering said: 'Our team last scrutinised this self-portrait in 1968 and according to what we knew then of Rembrandt's style we decided it was most likely painted by one of his pupils.

'But, over the past 45 years we have gathered far more knowledge about Rembrandt's self-portraits and the fluctuations in his style.

'In 2005 I published an analysis of the genesis of the painting on the basis of an X-ray. This analysis and the newly found circumstantial evidence remarkably increased the likelihood that the painting was by Rembrandt himself.'

He added that his observations of the painting technique during his recent visit to Buckland Abbey were in tune with what he had observed with other paintings of that period which showed the same crude brushwork and painterly appearance.

The painting was acquired by the trust as a gift from the estate of the late Edna, Lady Samuel of Wych Cross. Her husband, the late Harold, Lord Samuel of Wych Cross (1912-1987), was a property developer and philanthropist who collected a great number of paintings during his time, many of which are on display at the Mansion House in London. It was previously owned by the Princes of Liechtenstein.