[The image you submitted for authentication is] 17th century Dutch, not Flemish. Stylistically, it could be early Rembrandt or Jan Lievens, or any one of several of Rembrandt's students; however, all of Rembrandt's signatures I have ever seen were in black, whereas this one is in vermilion or some other light orange-red, so my feeling is that it is not by him. I have seen many paintings by students of Rembrandt that could easily have been by Rembrandt from all appearances. There is one in the Wellington Collection in London by Willem Drost that comes to mind immediately as an excellent example. Other possibilities might be Gerrit Dou, Nicolaes Maes, Eeckhoudt (I can't recall the first name), and others whose names escape my mind for the moment. The paint handling, costume and the lighting are definitely Rembrandtesque, so it would be someone associated with him. That signature is not much help, as I can't make it out at all.
Virgil
