Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

Artist:
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
Date:
1653
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
56 1/2 x 53 3/4 in. (143.5 x 136.5 cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
Purchase, special contributions and funds given or bequeathed by friends of the Museum, 1961

Among The Met’s most celebrated works of art, this painting conveys Rembrandt’s meditation on the transience of fame. Richly clad and wearing a gold medallion with the portrait of his patron, Alexander the Great, the philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) rests his hand pensively on a bust of Homer, the epic poet who had achieved literary immortality centuries before with the Iliad and the Odyssey. The painting thus establishes a contrast between worldly fame and lasting artistic achievement at a moment when Rembrandt’s own signature style, with its dark palette and almost sculptural buildup of paint, was beginning to fall out of fashion.

Provenance
Don Antonio Ruffo, principe della Scaletta, Messina, Sicily (1654–73; inv., 1660, [no. 599]); Don Placido Ruffo, principe della Scaletta, Messina (until 1710); Don Antonio Ruffo II, principe della Scaletta, Messina (1710–39); Don Calogero Ruffo, principe della Scaletta, Messina (1739–43); Don Giovanni Ruffo e la Rocca, principe della Scaletta, Messina (1743–55); ?Ruffo family, Messina (from 1755); ?Vaughan (until 1810; sale, Christie's, London, February 17, 1810, no. 113, as "Sculptor with a Bust," for £79.16 to Barnett [with no. 114, "Schoolmaster with his Pupil," the companion, for £32.11, presumably "Homer," now Mauritshuis, The Hague]); Sir Abraham Hume, Ashridge Park, Berkhampstead, Herts. (by 1815–d. 1838; cat., 1824, no. 116, as "Portrait of Cornelius van Hooft"); his grandson, John Hume Cust, Viscount Alford, Ashridge Park (1838–d. 1851); his son, John William Spencer Brownlow Cust, 2nd Earl Brownlow, Ashridge Park (1851–d. 1867); his brother, Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow, Ashridge Park (1867–at least 1893); Rodolphe Kann, Paris (by 1897–d. 1905; his estate, 1905–7; cat., 1907, vol. 1, no. 65; sold to Duveen); [Duveen, Paris and New York, 1907; sold to Huntington]; Mrs. Collis P. (Arabella D.) Huntington, later [from 1913] Mrs. Henry E. Huntington, New York (1907–d. 1924); her son, Archer M. Huntington, New York (1924–28; sold to Duveen); [Duveen, New York, 1928; sold for $750,000 to Erikson]; Alfred W. Erickson, New York (1928–30; sold for $500,000 to Duveen); [Duveen, New York, 1930–36; sold for $590,000 to Erickson]; Alfred W. Erickson, New York (d. 1936); his widow, Mrs. Alfred W. Erickson, New York (1936–d. 1961; her estate sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, November 15, 1961, no. 7, to MMA)

Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org