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Aristotle with a Bust of Homer
Oil on canvas (1653) by Rembrandt van Rijn, depicting Aristotle in contemplation before a bust of Homer, wearing a gold chain linking him to Alexander the Great. Commissioned by Don Antonio Ruffo of Messina. Held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Scholarly Significance
Rembrandt's most celebrated Sicilian commission; pivotal work meditating on the relationship between philosophy, poetry, and worldly ambition.
Notes
- ·Commissioned by Don Antonio Ruffo, a Sicilian nobleman, making it one of Rembrandt's only commissions from outside the Netherlands.
- ·The gold chain Aristotle wears links him metaphorically to his pupil Alexander the Great (whose image appears on a medallion).
- ·Ruffo later commissioned two further works from Rembrandt: Alexander the Great (1661) and Homer (1663).
- ·Sold at the Erickson Collection auction in 1961 for $2.3 million — then the highest price ever paid for a painting at auction.
- ·Signed and dated on Homer's base: 'Rembrandt f. 1653'.