Among the most celebrated works of art at The Met, this painting conveys Rembrandt’s meditation on the meaning of fame. The richly clad Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BCE) rests his hand pensively on a bust of Homer, the epic poet who had attained literary immortality with his Iliad and Odyssey centuries before. Aristotle wears a gold medallion with a portrait of his powerful pupil, Alexander the Great—perhaps the philosopher is weighing his own worldly success against Homer’s timeless achievement. Although the work has come to be considered quintessentially Dutch, it was painted for a Sicilian patron at a moment when Rembrandt’s signature style, with its dark palette and almost sculptural buildup of paint, was beginning to fall out of fashion in Amsterdam.
#5181. Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, Part 1
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5181. Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, Part 1
126. The Director's Tour, Second Floor: Aristotle with a Bust of Homer
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Title: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
Object Number:61.198
This picture was painted in 1653 for the Sicilian nobleman Don Antonio Ruffo (1610/11–1678) and sent from Amsterdam to his palace in Messina during the summer of 1654. Ruffo was an avid collector; at his death he had 364 paintings, including a work by Van Dyck, Saint Rosalie Interceding for the Plague-stricken of Palermo, now also in The Met (71.41). Though he went out of his way to collect works by famous masters, Ruffo rarely left Messina. He ordered this work through an agent, Giacomo di Battista, who did business with Cornelis Gijsbrechtsz, a wealthy Amsterdam merchant. Shortly after its delivery, the picture was recorded in Ruffo's inventory (1657) as a half-length figure of a philosopher, possibly Aristotle or Albertus Magnus. Based on this description, Giltaij (1999) concludes that Ruffo did not have a particular subject in mind when he made the commission, but probably asked for a half-length figure of a certain size. The dimensions given in the inventory are 8 x 6 palmi, equivalent to about 178 x 134 cm. (one palmo romano was about 22.34 cm.) and considerably larger than the current dimensions of the painting. Kirby (1992) explains, however, that the dimensions in palmi used in the Ruffo inventories were inexact measurements meant only as a guide. X-radiography confirms that the painting is close to, if not exactly, its original size.
In 1660, Ruffo commissioned a pendant for the Aristotle from the Bolognese artist Guercino (1591–1666), providing him with the desired dimensions and a sketch of the Rembrandt painting. In a letter to Ruffo of October 6, 1660, Guercino notes that "to accompany Rembrandt's which I judge to represent a Physiognomist, I thought it most fitting to make a Cosmographer . . . " Guercino's painting is now lost, but is known from a drawing in the Princeton University Art Museum.
Ruffo also ordered companion paintings from Rembrandt. They are the Alexander the Great of 1661 (now lost) and the fragmentary Homer (Mauritshuis, The Hague), dated 1663. Both are mentioned in an invoice dated July 30, 1661. In a letter of November 1, 1662, Ruffo addressed a letter to the Dutch consul in Messina, expressing dissatisfaction with the painting of Alexander and noting that he paid more for it than for the Aristotle; that the subject was in fact Aristotle had probably been clarified for Ruffo once he commissioned the other works from Rembrandt.
Until 1917, when Hoogewerff connected the newly published Ruffo documents with this painting, the subject had been variously identified as Ariosto, Tasso, Virgil, an imaginary man of letters, philospoher, or savant, or an actual poet or scholar of Rembrandt's time, such as Pieter Cornelisz Hooft.
Julius Held's analysis of the subject in an article of 1969 is still widely upheld. According to Held, Aristotle compares "two sets of values": on the one hand, everything that he admired in Homer—gravity, humility, "unequalled diction and thought"—and, on the other, wealth and worldly honor as embodied by the gold chain and medallion bearing an image of Aristotle's royal pupil, Alexander the Great.
[2010; adapted from Liedtke 2007]
Inscription: Signed and dated (on pedestal of bust): Rembrandt.f. / 1653.
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 The Met)
London. British Institution. 1815, no. 39 (as "Portrait of Peter Cornelius Van Hooft," lent by Sir A. Hume).
London. British Institution. June 1838, no. 12 (as "Portrait of Cornelius Van Hooft," lent by Viscount Alford).
London. British Institution. June 1846, no. 75 (as "Cornelius Van Hooft," lent by Viscount Alford).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," January–March 1893, no. 125 (as "Portrait of a Man," lent by the Earl Brownlow).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Hudson-Fulton Celebration," September–November 1909, no. 97 (as "The Savant," lent by Mrs. Collis P. Huntington, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition," May 8–August 1920, unnumbered cat. (p. 9, as "The Savant," lent by Mrs. Henry E. Huntington).
London. Olympia. "The Daily Telegraph Exhibition of Antiques and Works of Art," July 19–August 1, 1928, no. X42 (as "A Savant with the Bust of Homer," lent by Sir Joseph Duveen).
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Thirteenth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: Paintings by Rembrandt," May 2–31, 1930, no. 51 (as "Aristotle," lent by Mr. A. W. Erickson, New York).
Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum. "Rembrandt Tentoonstelling," June 11–September 4, 1932, no. 26 (lent by Sir Joseph Duveen, Bt., New-York).
London. Christie's. "Art Treasures Exhibition," October 12–November 5, 1932, no. 1355 (lent by Sir Joseph Duveen).
Art Institute of Chicago. "A Century of Progress," June 1–November 1, 1933, no. 73 (lent by Duveen Brothers, New York).
Palm Beach. Society of the Four Arts. "Loan Collection of Old Master Paintings," 1936, no catalogue [see Morrish n.d.].
Worcester Art Museum. "Rembrandt and His Circle," February 4–March 1, 1936, no. 6 (lent by Duveen Brothers, New York).
New York. Knoedler Galleries. "Allied Art for Allied Aid," June 10–29, 1940, no. 5 (lent anonymously).
New York. M. Knoedler & Co. "Loan Exhibition in Honour of Royal Cortissoz," December 1–20, 1941, no. 16 (lent by Mrs. A. W. Erickson).
Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum. "Rembrandt 1669/1969," September 13–November 30, 1969, no. 11.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Masterpieces of Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 16–November 1, 1970, unnumbered cat. (p. 44).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971, no. 279.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 10, 1995–January 7, 1996, no. 11.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 18, 2007–January 6, 2008, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met," October 16, 2018–October 4, 2020, no catalogue.
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT.
Cornelis Gysbert van Goor. Letter to Giacomo di Battista. June 19, 1654 [published in Ref. Ruffo 1916, and in Ref. Ricci 1918 with corrections], states that he has consigned a crate containing this picture to the captain of the vessel Bartholomeus, sailing for Naples, and notes that 500 florins are due for the painting, plus additional costs.
Inventory of Don Antonio Ruffo, principe della Scaletta. September 1, 1654 [published in Ruffo 1919], lists it as a half-length figure of a philosopher by Rembrandt, noting that it seems to depict either Aristotle ot Albertus Magnus.
Don Antonio Ruffo, principe della Scaletta. Ledger entry. January 8, 1657 [published in Ref. Ricci 1918], refers to it as Albertus Magnus in a note regarding its frame.
Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri). Letters to Don Antonio Ruffo. June 13–October 6/7, 1660 [published in Ref. Ruffo 1916], praises it and accepts a commission to paint a pendant in his own early style; acknowledges receipt of a sketch of this work; believes it represents a philosopher, and proposes a cosmographer as the pendant.
Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese). Letter to Don Antonio Ruffo. September 18, 1661 [published in Ref. Ricci 1918], states that he is painting for Ruffo a Dionysius of Syracuse, a half-length figure with a turban draped about its head "come l'altri due [like the other two]", probably referring to this work, having mistaken the cap for a turban.
Nota di quadri vincolati in primogenitura, ricuperati da don Giovanni Ruffo . . . dalle rovine del palazzo caduto in Messina coll'orribile terremoto dei 5 febraro 1783. 1783 [private collection, Messina; published in Rosanna De Gennaro, "Aggiunta alle notizie sulla collezione di Antonio Ruffo . . . ," Napoli nobilissima 2 (September–December 2001), p. 214, no. 63], lists it as "Quadro di Alberto Magno, del Reimbrant, palmi 5 1/2, sono tre, onze 210", among paintings from the Ruffo collection rescued from the earthquake of February 5, 1783.
A Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of Pictures. London, 1824, pp. 36–37, no. 116, as "Portrait of Cornelius van Hooft".
John Smith. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters. Vol. 7, London, 1836, p. 110, no. 302, as "Vander Hoof," in the collection of Sir Abraham Hume.
G[ustav]. F[riedrich]. Waagen. Works of Art and Artists in England. London, 1838, vol. 2, p. 205, notes that although it is called a portrait of Van Hooft, it is dated 1653, and the historian died in 1647.
G[ustav]. F[riedrich]. Waagen. Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris. Vol. 2, Kunstwerke und Künstler in England. Berlin, 1838, p. 20.
[Gustav Friedrich] Waagen. Treasures of Art in Great Britain. London, 1854, vol. 2, pp. 315–16, as in the collection of the Earl Brownlow.
C. Vosmaer. Rembrandt, sa vie et ses ouevres. 2nd ed. The Hague, 1877, p. 551, repeats the identification of the sitter as Hooft.
Wilhelm [von] Bode. Studien zur Geschichte der holländischen Malerei. Braunschweig, 1883, pp. 501, 578, 620, no. 139, as a portrait of a man.
Eugène Dutuit. Tableaux et dessins de Rembrandt. Paris, 1885, pp. 43, 63, 69, no. 316, as a portrait of a man, wrongly called Hooft.
Alfred von Wurzbach. Rembrandt-galerie. Stuttgart, 1886, text vol., no. 159.
Emile Michel. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, and His Time. English ed. New York, 1894, vol. 2, p. 235.
Abraham Bredius and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. Catalogue raisonné des tableaux et des sculptures. The Hague, 1895, p. 338, under no. 584, notes the similarities between the bust depicted here and the figure of Homer in the Mauritshuis painting.
J. Six. "De Homerus van Rembrandt." Oud-Holland 15 (1897), pp. 4–6, fig. 7, as in the Rodolphe Kann collection; suggests that the subject is the epic poet Torquato Tasso.
Malcolm Bell. Rembrandt van Rijn and His Work. London, 1899, pp. 80, 138–39, erroneously as still in the Brownlow collection; notes that it is Rembrandt's only painting dated 1653.
Wilhelm [von] Bode. Gemäldesammlung des Herrn Rudolf Kann in Paris. Vienna, 1900, p. III, pl. 1, as "Porträt eines Gelehrten".
Gustav Glück. "Die Gemäldesammlung des Herrn Rudolf Kann in Paris." Die Graphischen Künste 23 (1900), p. 89.
Wilhelm [von] Bode. Gemälde-Sammlung des Herrn Rudolf Kann in Paris. Vienna, 1900, p. IV, ill. p. XI.
Wilhelm [von] Bode with the assistance of C. Hofstede de Groot. The Complete Work of Rembrandt. Vol. 5, Paris, 1901, pp. 31, 180, no. 585, pl. 585, as "A Bearded Man with a Bust of Homer".
Auguste Marguillier. "La collection de M. Rodolphe Kann." Les arts 2 (February 1903), pp. 19–20, ill.
Adolf Rosenberg. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Stuttgart, 1904, pp. XXXII, 261, 269, ill. p. 183.
Adolf Rosenberg. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1906, pp. 402, 415, 426, 432, ill. p. 282.
Catalogue of the Rodolphe Kann Collection: Pictures. Paris, 1907, vol. 1, p. 66, no. 65, ill. opp. p. 66.
Marcel Nicolle. "La Collection Rodolphe Kann." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 23 (January–June 1908), p. 194, ill. p. 195.
C. J. Holmes. "Recent Acquisitions by Mrs. C. P. Huntington from the Kann Collection." Burlington Magazine 12 (January 1908), pp. 197–98, ill. opp. p. 193.
J. Kirby Grant. "Mrs. Collis P. Huntington's Collection." Connoisseur 20 (January 1908), pp. 5–6, ill. opp. p. 3.
Adolf Rosenberg. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Ed. W. R. Valentiner. 3rd ed. Stuttgart, 1909, pp. 562, 576, 589, 597, ill. p. 426, as perhaps an ideal portrait of the poet Virgil.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: Catalogue of an Exhibition Held in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1909, vol. 1, p. 98, no. 97, ill. opp. p. 98, as "The Savant," probably depicting Virgil.
J[ohn]. Kruse. "Eine neuentdeckte Homerus-Zeichnung von Rembrandt im Nationalmuseum zu Stockholm, Studie zum Gemälde im Mauritshuis." Oud-Holland 27 (1909), pp. 224–25, ill., tentatively as Torquato Tasso.
Kenyon Cox. "Dutch Pictures in The Hudson-Fulton Exhibition—I." Burlington Magazine 16 (December 1909), p. 184.
E[mil]. Waldmann. "Die Ausstellung Holländischer Gemälde des 17. Jahrhunderts in New York." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, n.s., 21, no. 4 (1910), p. 77, ill. p. 75, says the sitter may be Torquato Tasso or, more likely, Virgil.
Abraham Bredius and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. Catalogue raisonné des tableaux et des sculptures. Ed. W[ilhelm]. Martin. 2nd ed. The Hague, 1914, p. 309, under. no. 584.
Vincenzo Ruffo. "Galleria Ruffo nel secolo XVII in Messina." Archivio storico siciliano, n.s., 39 (1914), p. 338, notes that there were three Rembrandts in the Ruffo collection, known from the correspondence of Abraham Brueghel as "Aristotele che tiene la mano sopra una statua", "Alessandro Magno seduto", and "Omero seduto che insegna a due discepoli"; however, makes no connection between the Ruffo Aristotle and the MMA work.
F. Schmidt Degener. "Rembrandt en Homerus." Feest-Bundel Dr. Abraham Bredius aangeboden den Achttienden April 1915. Amsterdam, 1915, pp. 19–22, as a poet.
Vincenzo Ruffo. "Galleria Ruffo nel secolo XVII in Messina." Bollettino d'arte 10 (1916), pp. 100–102, 127–28, 165–66, 238, 318, publishes documents regarding this work when it was in the collection of Don Antonio Ruffo.
C[ornelis]. Hofstede de Groot. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. Ed. Edward G. Hawke. Vol. 6, London, 1916, pp. 221–22, no. 413.
G[offredo]. J. Hoogewerff. "Rembrandt en een Italiaansche Maecenas." Oud-Holland 35 (1917), pp. 129–48, ill., identifies the MMA work with the Aristotle in the Ruffo collection.
H[ans]. Schneider. "Rembrandt in Italien." Kunstchronik und Kunstmarkt, n.s., 30 (November 8, 1918), pp. 69–70.
Corrado Ricci. Rembrandt in Italia. Milan, 1918, pp. 7–53, ill., discusses and reprints, with additions and corrections, the documents published by Ruffo in 1916 [see Ref.].
Vincenzo Ruffo. "La galleria Ruffo (appendice)." Bollettino d'arte nos. 1–4 (January–April 1919), pp. 55–56.
"Pictures Lent for the Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 15 (August 1920), pp. 191–92, states that a bust of Homer—probably this one—appears in the inventory of Rembrandt's collection.
"The Museum's Fiftieth Anniversary: A Memorable Exhibition of Old Masterpieces." New York Tribune (May 9, 1920), p. 5.
D. S. Meldrum. Rembrandt's Paintings. London, 1923, p. 199, pl. CCCLII, as "Portrait of a Man of Letters".
Carl Neumann. Rembrandt. 4th ed. Munich, 1924, vol. 2, pp. 534–36, fig. 161.
J.-F. Backer. "Les tracas judiciaires de Rembrandt." Gazette des beaux-arts, 5th ser., 11 (1925), pp. 53–54, ill.
Frank E. Washburn Freund. "Rembrandts 'Aristoteles mit der Büste des Homer'." Der Cicerone 21 (August 1929), pp. 463–65, ill.
W. R. Valentiner. "Important Rembrandts in American Collections." Art News 28 (April 26, 1930), p. 4, ill. opp. p. 4, erroneously as painted in 1651.
Harry Adsit Bull. "Notes of the Month." International Studio 96 (June 1930), ill. p. 51.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931, unpaginated, no. 115, pl. 115.
Arthur M. Hind. Rembrandt: Being the Substance of the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures Delivered before Harvard University, 1930–1931. Cambridge, Mass., 1932, p. 135, pl. CXII.
J. L. A. A. M. van Rijckevorsel. Rembrandt en de Traditie. Rotterdam, 1932, p. 15, fig. 12, states that the bust of Homer also served as the model for the head behind Pilate in "Pilate Washing His Hands" (MMA 14.40.610).
"Great Classical Theme by Rembrandt Lent by Duveen Brothers." Art Digest 7 (May 15, 1933), p. 20, ill.
"American Art Featured in Great Century of Progress Show Which Opened in Chicago on May 23." Art News 31 (May 27, 1933), ill. p. 8.
Hans Tietze. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935, p. 337, pl. 177 [English ed., New York, 1939, p. 321, pl. 177].
A[braham]. Bredius. Rembrandt Gemälde. Vienna, 1935, p. 20, no. 478, pl. 478.
F. Schmidt-Degener. "Le double carrière de Rembrandt." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 15 (1936), pp. 48–49, fig. 7.
Emil Kieser. "Über Rembrandts Verhältnis zur Antike." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 10, no. 4/5 (1941/42), pp. 135–36, 144.
Tancred Borenius. Rembrandt: Selected Paintings. London, 1942, pp. 14–15, pl. 60.
Jakob Rosenberg. "Rembrandt and Guercino." Art Quarterly 7 (1944), pp. 129–34, fig. 2.
Denis Mahon. Studies in Seicento Art and Theory. London, 1947, pp. 105–6 n. 178.
Jakob Rosenberg. Rembrandt. Cambridge, Mass., 1948, vol. 1, pp. 165–68; vol. 2, pl. 242, identifies the medallion as depicting Alexander the Great.
Herbert von Einem. "Rembrandt und Homer." Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 14 (1952), pp. 187–95, fig. 167.
Seymour Slive. Rembrandt and His Critics, 1630–1730. The Hague, 1953, pp. 59–64, 81, 87, 107, fig. 20.
Otto Benesch. "Worldly and Religious Portraits in Rembrandt's Late Art." Art Quarterly 19 (Winter 1956), p. 339.
Jean Leymarie. Dutch Painting. [Geneva], 1956, p. 139, ill. p. 137 (color).
A. H[yatt]. M[ayor]. "Collectors at Home." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 16 (November 1957), p. 108, ill. (photograph of Huntington's library).
W. R. Valentiner. Rembrandt and Spinoza: A Study of the Spiritual Conflicts in Seventeenth-Century Holland. London, 1957, pp. 66–68, fig. 10, suggests that the three portraits commissioned by Ruffo would have been hung together—with the Aristotle on the left, the Alexander in the middle, and the Homer on the right—and that Ruffo himself may have suggested the inclusion of Homer's bust and Alexander on the medal, with the formation of an ensemble in mind.
Otto Benesch. Rembrandt. [New York], 1957, pp. 91–93, 96.
F[ritz]. Saxl. Lectures. London, 1957, vol. 1, pp. 309–10, pl. 216, commenting on Rembrandt's choice of subject matter for the Ruffo commission, notes that Aristotle's "Poetics" had recently been rediscovered and that Aristotle was held in high esteem in Holland; states that in this context the juxtaposition of Aristotle and Homer seems to conflate knowledge and poetry.
Otto Benesch. "Rembrandt and Ancient History." Art Quarterly 22 (Winter 1959), p. 328.
Ludwig Goldscheider. Rembrandt: Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings. London, 1960, pp. 175–76, pl. 77, erroneously concludes that the picture "has been considerably cut away at the sides".
Alfred Frankfurter. "Editorial: On Quality." Art News 60 (December 1961), p. 27.
M. Muller. "'Rembrandts Curieuse Saecken'." Gedenkschrift ter herinnering aan het vijftigjarig bestaan van museum het Rembrandthuis (June 10, 1961), p. 43, ill. p. 36 (cropped).
The Collection of Twenty-Four Old Master Paintings. Park-Bernet, New York. 1961, pp. 26–28, no. 7, ill. p. 29 and frontispiece (color).
Delphine Fitz Darby. "Ribera and the Wise Men." Art Bulletin 44 (December 1962), p. 303.
Theodore Rousseau. "Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 20 (January 1962), pp. 149–56, ill. on cover (color) [reprinted in Dutch in De Kroniek van de Vriendenkring van het Rembrandthuis 17 (April 28, 1963), pp. 35–45, ill. p. 21].
Francis Spar. "La lettre d'information." Connaissance des arts 119 (January 1962), p. 35, ill.
Helen Comstock. "The Connoisseur in America." Connoisseur 150 (August 1962), p. 277.
The Painter as Historian: Mythological, Religious, Secular Paintings of the XV to XIX Centuries. Exh. cat., Wildenstein. New York, 1962, p. 7, under no. 6.
Francis Haskell. Patrons and Painters: A Study in the Relations between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque. New York, 1963, pp. 209–10, pl. 35a.
Jakob Rosenberg. Rembrandt: Life & Work. rev. ed. London, 1964, pp. 278–83, 317, fig. 242.
Julius S. Held. Rembrandt and the Book of Tobit. Northampton, Mass., 1964, p. 25.
Konrad Kraft. "Der behelmte Alexander der Große." Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 15 (1965), pp. 7–9, believes that the gold medallion depicts Athena, not Alexander.
Jakob Rosenberg and Seymour Slive inDutch Art and Architecture: 1600 to 1800. Baltimore, 1966, pp. 71, 74, pl. 50A.
Kurt Bauch. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966, p. 12, pl. 207.
Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann inEncyclopedia of World Art. Vol. 11, New York, 1966, cols. 929–30.
Kenneth Clark. Rembrandt and the Italian Renaissance. London, 1966, p. 78, fig. 71, believes the bust of Homer had particular significance for Rembrandt, who "turned again and again to the theme of blindness".
Christopher White. Rembrandt and His World. new ed. New York, 1966, p. 104, ill.
Mario Lepore. The Life, Times, and Art of Rembrandt. New York, 1967, pp. 62–63, ill. (color).
Horst Gerson. Rembrandt Paintings. Ed. Gary Schwartz. Amsterdam, 1968, pp. 138–39, 370, 499, no. 286, ill. pp. 111 (color) and 370.
J. A. Emmens. Rembrandt en de Regels van de Kunst. Utrecht, [1968], pp. 169–76, 203–5, fig. 51, states that the trio of Homer, Aristotle, and Alexander could have been intended to correspond to "ingenium" (inborn talent), "ars" (science of art), and "exercitatio" (practical training).
Bob Haak. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, His Time. New York, [1969], pp. 240–43, 311, fig. 403 (color).
Julius S. Held. Rembrandt's "Aristotle" and other Rembrandt Studies. Princeton, 1969, pp. 3–44, figs. 1, 33 (overall and detail) and frontispiece (color), discusses the iconography.
Paolo Lecaldano inL'opera pittorica completa di Rembrandt. Milan, 1969, pp. 114–15, no. 316, ill. p. 115 and colorpl. XXXVII.
Horst Gerson, ed. Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings.. By A[braham]. Bredius. 3rd ed. London, 1969, p. 594, no. 478, ill. p. 386.
H[orst]. Gerson. "The Rembrandt Exhibitions of 1969." Burlington Magazine 111 (December 1969), p. 781.
C. C. Cunningham inRembrandt After Three Hundred Years. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. [Chicago], 1969, p. 18.
"Rembrandt: Portrait of a Master." Holland Herald 4, no. 8 (1969), p. 28, ill. p. 34.
R. W. Scheller. "Rembrandt en de encyclopedische kunstkamer." Oud Holland 84 (1969), p. 128.
S. H. Levie. "The Fifth Rembrandt Exhibition at the Rijksmuseum." Connoisseur 172 (September 1969), p. 6.
Werner Sumowski. "Rembrandt 1669–1969, zur Amsterdamer Ausstellung." Pantheon 27, no. 6 (November–December 1969), p. 465.
Annemarie A. E. Vels Heijn. "Eerbetoon aan Rembrandt, 1852–1956." Spiegel Historiael 4 (September 1969), p. 456, fig. 9.
B[ob]. Haak. "De nachtelijke samenzwering van Claudius Civilis in het Schakerbos op de Rembrandttentoonstelling te Amsterdam." Antiek 4 (October 1969), p. 136.
Calvin Tomkins. Merchants and Masterpieces: The Story of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1970, pp. 171–72, 191, 271, 335–39, 349 [rev., enl. ed., 1989, pp. 171–72, 191, 271, 335–39, 349, 363].
Francis Haskell. "The Benjamin Altman Bequest." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), p. 263.
Jacques Foucart inLe siècle de Rembrandt: Tableaux hollandais des collections publiques françaises. Exh. cat., Petit Palais. Paris, 1970, p. 182, under no. 178.
Vitale Bloch. Rembrandt Today. Amsterdam, 1970, pp. 45–46.
Ingvar Bergström. "Le Tricentenaire de Rembrandt." L'Oeil no. 183 (March 1970), p. 7.
Eduard Hüttinger. "Rembrandt 1969: l'avvenimento più importante dell'anno." Arte illustrata 3 (January–February 1970), p. 8, fig. 5.
Henri Zerner. "Le second siècle du Metropolitan Museum." L'Oeil nos. 188–89 (August–September 1970), p. 14, colorpl. 3.
I. Linnik inRembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: Paintings from Soviet Museums. Ed. V. Loewinson-Lessing. Leningrad [St. Petersburg], 1971, unpaginated, under no. 27.
Jan Bialostocki. "Review of Held 1969." Kunstchronik 24 (December 1971), pp. 370–72.
Julius S. Held and Donald Posner. 17th and 18th Century Art: Baroque Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., [1972], p. 248, fig. 259.
Jakob Rosenberg and Seymour Slive inDutch Art and Architecture: 1600 to 1800. rev. ed. Harmondsworth, England, 1972, pp. 121, 126, fig. 83.
Raymond Charmet et al. "Les Voies secrètes de la peinture: Rembrandt, la lumière de l'âme." Jardin des arts no. 215 (October–November 1972), p. 33, ill. (color).
Julián Gállego and Frédéric Mégret. La grande histoire de la peinture. Vol. 10, Le Siècle d'or en Hollande. [Geneva], 1973, ill. p. 19.
Julián Gállego and Frédéric Mégret. La grande histoire de la peinture. Vol. 11, Le XVIIIe siècle en France et en Italie. [Geneva], 1973, p. 33.
Julius S. Held. "Rembrandt and the Classical World." Rembrandt After Three Hundred Years. Chicago, 1973, pp. 53, 57, 63.
Seymour Slive. "Rembrandt's Teachers and Contemporaries." Rembrandt After Three Hundred Years. Chicago, 1973, pp. 124–25.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Boston, 1974, p. 198.
A. Pigler. Barockthemen: Eine Auswahl von Verzeichnissen zur Ikonographie des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts. 2nd ed. [first ed. 1956]. Budapest, 1974, vol. 2, pp. 323–24.
Margaretta Salinger in "The Price Was Not Too High." The Chase, the Capture: Collecting at the Metropolitan. New York, 1975, pp. 202–4, fig. 52.
Christopher Wright. Rembrandt and His Art. New York, 1975, pp. 76, 84, pl. 60.
Edward Fowles. Memories of Duveen Brothers. London, 1976, p. 40.
Myra Nan Rosenfeld. "Problems of Iconography in Italian Painting." Apollo 103 (May 1976), p. 387, erroneously states that it was in Ruffo's collection in Rome.
Herbert Wiesner. Master Painters of Holland: Dutch Painting in the Seventeenth Century. New York, 1976, colorpl. 69.
Christopher Brown inArt in Seventeenth Century Holland. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 1976, p. 75, under no. 93.
Felton Gibbons. Catalogue of Italian Drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University. Princeton, 1977, vol. 1, p. 98, under no. 256.
J. Bolten and H. Bolten-Rempt. The Hidden Rembrandt. Milan, 1977, pp. 130–36, 151, 194, no. 406, ill. pp. 131 (color), 194.
B[en]. P. J. Broos. Index to the Formal Sources of Rembrandt's Art. Maarssen, The Netherlands, 1977, p. 48.
Seiro Mayekawa and Mamoru Kaneshige. Rembrandt. Tokyo, 1977, colorpl. 47.
A. B. de Vries et al. Rembrandt in the Mauritshuis. Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands, 1978, pp. 170–72, 174, 176 n. 3, pp. 222–23, fig. 141, notes that the historical source that combines the three figures of Homer, Aristotle, and Alexander is Plutarch's life of Alexander.
Anthony Bailey. Rembrandt's House. Boston, 1978, pp. 105, 171, 202, 209.
David M. Robb Jr. "Rembrandt's 'Portrait of a Young Jew'." Apollo 107 (January 1978), p. 46.
Kenneth Clark. An Introduction to Rembrandt. New York, 1978, p. 102, fig. 110.
Walter L. Strauss and Marjon van der Meulen. The Rembrandt Documents. New York, 1979, pp. 293, 315, 320, 457–58, 460, 490–91, 494, ill. pp. 316–17 (overall and detail).
Anne-Marie S. Logan. The "Cabinet" of the Brothers Gerard and Jan Reynst. Amsterdam, 1979, p. 106.
Howard Hibbard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1980, pp. 335, 340, fig. 606 (color).
Christopher Brown. Second Sight: Titian, "Portrait of a Man"; Rembrandt, "Self-portrait at the Age of 34". Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 1980, p. 9, ill. p. 10.
Michael Platt. "Aristotle Gazing." The St. John's Review 31 (January 1980), pp. 68–74, ill. (overall and details).
François Duret-Robert. "New York—Bordeaux." Connaissance des arts no. 353 (July 1981), p. 76.
H. Diane Russell. Claude Lorrain, 1600–1682. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1982, p. 463.
Maryan W. Ainsworth et al. Art and Autoradiography: Insights into the Genesis of Paintings by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, and Vermeer. New York, 1982, pp. 51–52, 98–99 nn. 43–46, p. 103, pls. 31–34 (overall, x-ray radiograph, and autoradiographs) and colorpls. E, F (photomicrographs of paint cross sections), state that technical analysis reveals that although the composition was established from the outset, in the process of painting Rembrandt altered the costume—particularly the shoulders and sleeves—the position of the Alexander medal, and the books in the background.
Jacques Foucart. Les peintures de Rembrandt au Louvre. Paris, 1982, p. 59.
Yasuo Kamon et al. Rembrandt—from the Collection of the Hermitage Museum. Exh. cat., Bridgestone Museum of Art. Tokyo, 1982, unpaginated, introduction, under no. 9, fig. 21.
Edward C. Banfield. "Art Versus Collectibles." Harper's 265 (August 1982), p. 34.
Christopher White inRembrandt in Eighteeenth-Century England. Exh. cat., Yale Center for British Art, Yale University. [New Haven], 1983, pp. 37, 44, no. 80 and under no. 43.
Olivia Gazzam Morrish. A History of the Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida: A Narrative of Significant Events from 1936 to 1983. [Palm Beach?], n.d., unpaginated, ill. (gallery installation photograph).
Christopher Brown. "Jan Lievens in Leiden and London." Burlington Magazine 125 (November 1983), p. 669.
Albert Blankert inThe Impact of a Genius: Rembrandt, His Pupils and Followers in the Seventeenth Century. Exh. cat., Groninger Museum, Groningen. Amsterdam, 1983, p. 26.
Bob Haak. The Golden Age: Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. New York, 1984, p. 60, fig. 68.
Margaret Deutsch Carroll. "Rembrandt 'Aristotle': Exemplary Beholder." Artibus et Historiae no. 10 (1984), pp. 35–56, figs. 1, 9 (overall and detail).
Thomas E. Norton. 100 Years of Collecting in America: The Story of Sotheby Parke Bernet. New York, 1984, pp. 174–75, ill. (color).
Ger Luijten. "'De veelheid en de eelheid': een Rijksmuseum Schmidt-Degener." Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 35 (1984), pp. 379, 406 n. 156, fig. 29.
H. R. Hoetink and N. J. Sluijter-Seijffert inThe Royal Picture Gallery, Mauritshuis. Ed. H. R. Hoetink. Amsterdam, 1985, p. 270, under no. 76.
Gary Schwartz. Rembrandt, His Life, His Paintings. New York, 1985, pp. 280, 301–6, 308, 316, 348, fig. 334 (color).
Peter C. Sutton. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1986, pp. 179, 182, fig. 258.
Colin Simpson. Artful Partners: Bernard Berenson and Joseph Duveen. New York, 1986, pp. 121, 297 [British ed., "The Partnership: The Secret Association of Bernard Berenson and Joseph Duveen," London, 1987].
D. Stephen Pepper inThe Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Exh. cat.Washington, 1986, p. 326.
Oreste Ferrari. "L'iconografia dei filosofi antichi nella pittura del sec. XVII in Italia." Storia dell'arte 57 (1986), pp. 108, 110, 128.
David Mannings inReynolds. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London. New York, 1986, p. 166, fig. 48 (detail), under no. 4.
Christian Tümpel. Rembrandt: Mythos und Methode. Königstein, 1986, pp. 287, 357, 361, 363–64, 368, 402, no. 108, ill. p. 360 (color).
Julius S. Held inRembrandt and the Bible. Exh. cat., Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama. [Tokyo], 1986, pp. 27, 31–32.
Svetlana [L.] Alpers. Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market. Chicago, 1988, pp. 22, 25–26, 81, 86, 91, 97, 104, 113, 129 n. 24, p. 147 n. 67, colorpls. 2–3 (details), fig. 1.20.
David Bomford et al. Art in the Making: Rembrandt. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 1988, p. 15, fig. 13.
Charles L. Mee Jr. Rembrandt's Portrait: A Biography. New York, 1988, pp. 238–47.
John Gregory and Irena Zdanowicz. Rembrandt in the Collections of the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, 1988, pp. 60, 74 n. 20.
Shelley Karen Perlove. Impressions of Faith: Rembrandt's Biblical Etchings. Exh. cat., Mardigian Library, University of Michigan. Dearborn, Mich., 1989, pp. 30–31.
H. Perry Chapman. "Expression, Temperament, and Imagination in Rembrandt's Earliest Self-portraits." Art History 12 (June 1989), p. 170.
Walter Liedtke. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and Their Ideals." Great Dutch Paintings from America. Exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 1990, pp. 36, 40, 48, 55.
Peter C. Sutton in Ben Broos. "Recent Patterns of Public and Private Collecting of Dutch Art." Great Dutch Paintings from America. Exh. cat., Mauritshuis. The Hague, 1990, p. 104.
H. Perry Chapman. Rembrandt's Self-portraits: A Study in Seventeenth-Century Identity. Princeton, 1990, pp. 28, 31, 93.
Emmanuel Starcky. Rembrandt. London, 1990, pp. 31, 106–7, ill. (color).
Milton Esterow. "Masterpiece Theater." Art News 89 (Summer 1990), p. 134, ill. (color).
Christopher Brown et al. Rembrandt: The Master & His Workshop. Ed. Sally Salvesen. Exh. cat., Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Vol. 1, "Paintings."New Haven, 1991, pp. 258, 260–61, under no. 43.
Pierre Cabanne. Rembrandt. [Paris], 1991, p. 14, ill. (color).
Jan Kelch. Rembrandt: The Master & His Workshop. Ed. Sally Salvesen. Exh. cat., Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Vol. 1, "Paintings."New Haven, 1991, p. 250, under no. 41, fig. 41a, states that Rembrandt must have recalled this work when he painted the drapery for "Flora" (MMA 26.101.10) in the folowing year.
Julius S. Held. Rembrandt Studies. Princeton, 1991, pp. 191–93.
Richard Brilliant. Portraiture. Cambridge, Mass., 1991, pp. 80–82, fig. 32.
Marjolein de Boer. Bredius, Rembrandt en het Mauritshuis!!!. The Hague, 1991, pp. 80–81, under no. 13, fig. 1.
S. A. C. Dudok van Heel. "'Gestommel' in het Huis van Rembrandt van Rijn." Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis no. 1 (1991), p. 4, notes that Rembrandt's output in 1653 was limited due to work being done in the house of his neighbor, Daniel Pinto.
Colnaghi in America: A Survey to Commemorate the First Decade of Colnaghi New York. Ed. Nicholas H. J. Hall. New York, 1992, p. 22.
Leonard J. Slatkes. Rembrandt: Catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1992, pp. 175–76, no. 95, ill. (color).
Görel Cavalli-Björkman inRembrandt och hans Tid: Människan i Centrum. Exh. cat., Nationalmuseum. Stockholm, 1992, p. 174, ill.
Christopher Brown and Ashok Roy. "Rembrandt's 'Alexander the Great'." Burlington Magazine 134 (May 1992), pp. 286, 288, 291, 293, 296–97, fig. 10 (paint cross-section), argue that the Glasgow painting, not the Aristotle, was the first work made for Ruffo by Rembrandt.
Jo Kirby. "A Note on the Seventeenth-Century 'palmo' in the Context of Don Antonio Ruffo's Collection." Burlington Magazine 134 (May 1992), p. 298, argues that the measurements of paintings given in Ruffo documents are not exact but were meant to serve only as guides, and that attempts to calculate the original dimensions of this work should therefore not be taken too seriously.
Karla Langedijk. Die Selbstbildnisse der holländischen und flämischen Künstler in der Galleria degli Autoritratti der Uffizien in Florenz. Florence, 1992, p. 57, suggests that the composition of Philips Koninck's self-portrait in the Uffizi was inspired by this work.
Martin Bailey. "Rembrandt's 'Alexander the Great': A Salutary Warning." Apollo, n.s., 136 (July 1992), p. 35.
Ben Broos. Intimacies & Intrigues: History Painting in the Mauritshuis. The Hague, 1993, pp. 269–71, 277, fig. 1.
Herbert T. Kalmus with Eleanore King Kalmus. Mr. Technicolor. Absecon, N.J., 1993, p. 89.
Lucien Braun. Iconographie et philosophie. Strasbourg, 1994, pp. 29, 164, ill. p. 181.
Walter Liedtke inRembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, "Paintings, Drawings, and Prints: Art-Historical Perspectives."New York, [1995], pp. 5, 31, 65–70, 72, 115–16, no. 11, ill. (color).
Seymour Slive. Dutch Painting 1600–1800. New Haven, 1995, pp. 84, 90, fig. 102.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. Washington, 1995, pp. 244, 310, fig. 1.
Hubert von Sonnenburg. Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, "Paintings: Problems and Issues."New York, 1995, pp. 6, 24, 31–32, 34–35, 50, 56–57, 59, figs. 26–27, 54–57, 72–75 (overall, color details, details before and after cleaning, x-radiograph details, and photographic reconstruction), and ill. on cover (color detail).
Ben Broos. "Rembrandts Schatkamer." Tableau 18 (November 1995), p. 72, fig. 10.
Annemarie Beunen. "Abraham Casembroot, een Nederlandse schilder in het Sicilië van de zeventiende eeuw." Oud Holland 109, no. 1/2 (1995), pp. 34, 47–48.
Gary Schwartz. "Truth in Labeling." Art in America 83 (December 1995), pp. 54–55, ill. p. 57 (color).
Jeroen Giltaij inRembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, "Paintings, Drawings, and Prints: Art-Historical Perspectives."New York, [1995], pp. 66, 68.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 315, ill.
Walter A. Liedtke inTimken Museum of Art: European Works of Art, American Paintings, and Russian Icons in the Putnam Foundation Collection. Ed. Fronia W. Simpson. San Diego, 1996, pp. 89, 93.
Herbert Lank. "Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship." Studies in Conservation 41, no. 2 (1996), p. 124.
B[en]. P. J. Broos inThe Dictionary of Art. Ed. Jane Turner. Vol. 26, New York, 1996, p. 164.
Wayne Franits. "Domesticity, Privacy, Civility, and the Transformation of Adriaen van Ostade's art." Images of Women in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art: Domesticity and the Representation of the Peasant. Ed. Patricia Phagan. Athens, Ga., 1996, p. 16, fig. 10.
Walter Watson. "Rembrandt's Aristotle." Hypotheses: Neo-Aristotelian Analysis no. 18 (Summer 1996), pp. 6–10.
Michael Kimmelman. "At the Met with Chuck Close: Sought or Imposed, Limits Can Take Flight." New York Times (July 25, 1997), p. C23.
Walter Liedtke. "Style in Dutch Art." Looking at Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art: Realism Reconsidered. Ed. Wayne Franits. Cambridge, 1997, p. 126, fig. 80.
Paul Broekhoff and Michiel Franken. "Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship." Simiolus 25, no. 1 (1997), pp. 78, 81.
Albert Blankert and Marleen Blokhuis inRembrandt: A Genius and His Impact. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, 1997, pp. 171, 172 n. 17, under no. 24.
Albert Blankert. Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, 1997, pp. 40, 55 n. 28.
Jeroen Giltaij inRembrandt: A Genius and His Impact. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, 1997, p. 134, under no. 15.
Marleen Blokhuis inRembrandt: A Genius and His Impact. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, 1997, pp. 27–28, 30 n. 74, fig. 8 (color).
Peter C. Sutton inRembrandt: A Genius and His Impact. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, 1997, p. 318, under no. 71.
Ben Broos inRembrandt: A Genius and His Impact. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, 1997, p. 378, under no. 97.
Uwe Wieczorek. "Dramaturgie des Augen-Blicks: Äußere Wahrnemung und innere Erkenntnis im Werk Rembrandts." Belvedere no. 1 (1997), p. 18, fig. 15 (color), erroneously as an instance of a work commissioned from Rembrandt for which the subject was dictated by the patron.
Cynthia Saltzman. Portrait of Dr. Gachet: The Story of a Van Gogh Masterpiece. New York, 1998, pp. 241, 299.
Walter Liedtke. "Albert Blankert et al., 'Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact'." Simiolus 26, no. 4 (1998), pp. 313, 316.
Svetlana Alpers. "Not Bathsheba: I. The Painter and the Model." Rembrandt's "Bathsheba Reading King David's Letter". Ed. Ann Jensen Adams. Cambridge, 1998, p. 152.
Gary Schwartz. "'Though deficient in beauty': A Documentary History and Interpretation of Rembrandt's 1654 Painting of Bathsheba." Rembrandt's "Bathsheba Reading King David's Letter". Ed. Ann Jensen Adams. Cambridge, 1998, p. 203 n. 49.
Walter Liedtke. "Rembrandt in Australia." Apollo 147 (February 1998), p. 55.
Ann Jensen Adams inRembrandt's "Bathsheba Reading King David's Letter". Ed. Ann Jensen Adams. Cambridge, 1998, p. 5.
Ernst van de Wetering. "Rembrandt's Bathsheba: The Object and its Transformations." Rembrandt's "Bathsheba Reading King David's Letter". Ed. Ann Jensen Adams. Cambridge, 1998, pp. 32, 41–42.
Michael Kimmelman. Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere. New York, 1998, p. 242, ill. [text similar to Kimmelman 1997].
Jean Strouse. Morgan: American Financier. New York, 1999, p. 568.
Simon Schama. Rembrandt's Eyes. New York, 1999, pp. 567, 582–91, 594, 720 nn. 18, 23, 29, 32, ill. (color), argues that it depicts Apelles with a bust of Homer.
David Freedberg. "The Bosom of History." New Republic (December 6, 1999), p. 50, states that Schama [see Ref. 1999] "pushes the available evidence much too far in his efforts" to reidentify Aristotle as Apelles.
Simon Schama. "On Rembrandt's House and the Collection of the Artist." Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis nos. 1–2 (1999), p. 14, fig. 6.
Bob van den Boogert inRembrandt's Treasures. Ed. Bob van den Boogert. Exh. cat., Rembrandt House Museum. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 1999, pp. 77, 119, fig. 78.
Jeroen Giltaij. Ruffo en Rembrandt. Zutphen, The Netherlands, 1999, pp. 10, 43–51, 60, 65, 67, 73, 76–87, 89–94, 97, 103–4, 106–8, 111, 114, 125–26, 176 nn. 126–28, p. 177 n. 147, p. 180 n. 308, fig. 10.
Christopher Wright. Rembrandt. Paris, 2000, pp. 68, 70, fig. 55 (color).
Harry Berger Jr. Fictions of the Pose: Rembrandt Against the Italian Renaissance. Stanford, 2000, pp. 510, 610 n. 24.
Alan Chong. Rembrandt Creates Rembrandt: Art and Ambition in Leiden, 1629–1631. Exh. cat., Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Boston, 2000, p. 119, under no. 16.
Benjamin Binstock. "Review of Schama 1999." Art Bulletin 82 (June 2000), p. 365, rejects Schama's suggestion that it depicts Apelles.
Ernst van de Wetering inLa luce del vero: Caravaggio, La Tour, Rembrandt, Zurbarán. Exh. cat., Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2000, p. 156.
Ger Luijten. Rembrandt's Etchings. Amsterdam, 2000, p. 23.
Eric M. Moormann inGreek Gods and Heroes in the Age of Rubens and Rembrandt. Ed. Peter Schoon and Sander Paarlberg. Exh. cat., National Gallery/Alexandros Soutzos Museum. Athens, 2000, p. 32, fig. 10.
S. Paul Crenshaw. "Rembrandt's Bankruptcy." PhD diss., New York University, 2000, pp. 198–99 n. 542, p. 201, fig. 29 [published in part in "Rembrandt's Disputes with His Patrons," Dutch Crossing 25 (Winter 2001), pp. 177–78, 196–97 nn. 68, 70].
Maria Concetta Calabrese. Nobiltà, mecenatismo e collezionismo a Messina nel XVII secolo. Catania, 2000, p. 20.
Walter Liedtke et al. Vermeer and the Delft School. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2001, pp. 381, 388, 396, 438 n. 9, notes that Rembrandt "may have had the 'paragone' of painting and sculpture in mind when he compared . . . the senses of touch and sight" in this work.
Jeroen Giltaij et al. Rembrandt Rembrandt. Exh. cat., Kyoto National Museum. Kyoto, 2002, pp. 127, 202–3, 209 n. 126, no. 29, ill. (color, overall and detail) [German ed., Frankfurt, 2003, pp. 159, 247 n. 282].
Amy Golahny. "Homer, Raphael, Rembrandt: Reading 'Vulcan's Net'." Rethinking Rembrandt. Ed. Alan Chong and Michael Zell. Boston, 2002, pp. 86–87.
Charles Ford. "Works do not Make an Oeuvre: Rembrandt's Self-Portraits as a Category." Rethinking Rembrandt. Ed. Alan Chong and Michael Zell. Boston, 2002, p. 125.
Ronni Baer. The Poetry of Everyday Life: Dutch Painting in Boston. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 2002, p. 42.
Steven Nadler. Rembrandt's Jews. Chicago, 2003, p. 5.
Rosanna De Gennaro. Per il collezionismo del Seicento in Sicilia: L"Inventario" di Antonio Ruffo principe della scaletta. Pisa, 2003, pp. XX, 129, publishes the Ruffo inventory.
Jaco Rutgers. "'Sijn'kunst-faem over 't spits der Alpen heen gevlogen?' Rembrandts naam en faam in Italië in de zeventiende eeuw." Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis nos. 1–2 (2003), pp. 10, 18 n. 75, fig. 7.
Jodi Cranston inRaphael, Cellini & A Renaissance Banker: The Patronage of Bindo Altoviti. Ed. Alan Chong et al. Exh. cat., Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Boston, 2003, p. 127, fig. 66.
Meryle Secrest. Duveen: A Life in Art. New York, 2004, pp. 71, 77, 120, 278–80, 476, ill.
Catherine B. Scallen. Rembrandt, Reputation, and the Practice of Connoisseurship. Amsterdam, 2004, pp. 197, 204, 207–8, 361 n. 58, p. 363 n. 99, fig. 48.
Walter Liedtke. "The Meaning of Rembrandt's 'Aristotle with a Bust of Homer'." Collected Opinions: Essays on Netherlandish Art in Honour of Alfred Bader. Ed. Volker Manuth and Axel Rüger. London, 2004, pp. 73–87, fig. 1 (color).
John Brewer. "The Art of the Deal." New York Review (October 7, 2004), p. 28.
Jeroen Giltaij inPercorsi d'arte: tra vestigia dei Messapi il collezionismo dei Ruffo e l'evoluzione pittorica di Mino Delle Site. Exh. cat., convento di San Domenico, Cavallino. Salerno, 2004, p. 62.
Peter C. Sutton inRembrandt's Late Religious Portraits. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2005, pp. 73, 130, under nos. 1 and 17.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. inRembrandt's Late Religious Portraits. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2005, p. 76, fig. 3, under no. 2.
Everett Fahy inThe Wrightsman Pictures. Ed. Everett Fahy. New York, 2005, p. 27.
Susan Donahue Kuretsky. Time and Transformation in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art. Exh. cat., Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Poughkeepsie, 2005, p. 267 n. 3.
Jeroen Giltaij. "Nieuws omtrent Ruffo en Rembrandt." Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis nos. 1–2 (2005), pp. 47–49, fig. 1.
Keith Christiansen. "Going for Baroque: Bringing 17th-Century Masters to the Met." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 62 (Winter 2005), p. 41, fig. 39 (color).
Walter Liedtke. "Gerard de Lairesse and Jacob de Wit 'in situ'." The Learned Eye: Regarding Art, Theory, and the Artist's Reputation: Essays for Ernst van de Wetering. Ed. Marieke van den Doel et al. Amsterdam, 2005, pp. 192, 202 n. 4.
Esmée Quodbach. "American Collections Rich in Dutch Art: de eerste Amerikaanse reis van Cornelis Hofstede de Groot." Van Cuyp tot Rembrandt: de verzameling Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. Exh. cat., Groninger Museum. Groningen, 2005, pp. 74, 305 n. 66.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. inRembrandt's Apostles. Exh. cat., Timken Museum of Art. San Diego, 2005, p. 16, fig. 6 [reprint of Ref. Wheelock 2005, exh. cat. Washington].
Lene Bøgh Rønberg inRembrandt? The Master and His Workshop. Exh. cat., Statens Museum for Kunst. [Copenhagen], 2006, p. 101 n. 68.
Ernst van de Wetering inRembrandt? The Master and His Workshop. Exh. cat., Statens Museum for Kunst. [Copenhagen], 2006, pp. 45–46.
Duncan Bull inRembrandt—Caravaggio. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2006, pp. 20, 22, 29, fig. 20 (color).
Sylvia Hochfield. "Rembrandt: Myth, Legend, Truth." Art News 105 (Summer 2006), p. 157, ill. p. 156 (color).
Paul Crenshaw. Rembrandt's Bankruptcy. Cambridge, 2006, pp. 48, 125–26, 128, 148–49, 170 n. 25, p. 189 nn. 64–66, 68, p. 190 n. 71, p. 192 nn. 26, 31–32, fig. 27 [expanded from Ref. Crenshaw 2000].
Friso Lammertse inUylenburgh & Son: Art and Commerce from Rembrandt to De Lairesse. Exh. cat., Dulwich Picture Gallery. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2006, p. 279 n. 350.
Christian Tümpel. Rembrandt. 2nd ed. Reinbek bei Hamburg, 2006, pp. 131–33, 161 n. 117, ill. (color).
Ernst van de Wetering inRembrandt: Quest of a Genius. Exh. cat., Museum Het Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2006, pp. 56, 59, fig. 58 (color) [Dutch ed., "Rembrandt: Zoektocht van een genie"].
Marieke de Winkel. Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt's Paintings. Amsterdam, 2006, pp. 169, 210, 216, 311 n. 154, fig. 104 (color).
David Bomford, Ashok Roy, and Axel Rüger inArt in the Making: Rembrandt. Ed. David Bomford et al. Exh. cat.London, 2006, p. 157, fig. 163 (color).
Esmée Quodbach. "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 65 (Summer 2007), pp. 22–25, 27–28, 53, 55, 70, figs. 21 (Huntington library photograph), 24 (color), 61 (New York Times photograph).
Walter Liedtke. Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, vol. 1, pp. ix, xii, xvii, 164, 373 n. 6, ill. (color, frontispiece); vol. 2, pp. 549, 604, 617, 629–54, 661–62, 683, 736, 762, 848, 878, no. 151, colorpl. 151, figs. 170–71 (overall and color detail).
Nicholas Penny. The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings. Vol. 2, Venice 1540–1600. London, 2008, pp. 459–60 n. 26.
Alejandro Vergara inRembrandt, pintor de historias. Ed. Alejandro Vergara. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2008, pp. 49–50, 219, fig. 20 (color).
Dagmar Hirschfelder. Tronie und Porträt in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 2008, pp. 129, 189, 424, no. 444, pl. 94.
Rosanna De Gennaro. "Da Rubens a Jordaens d'Anversa, presenze fiamminghe nella collezione messinese di Antonio Ruffo principe della Scaletta." La "Konstkamer" italiana: i "Fiamminghi" nelle collezioni italiane all'età di Rubens. 2008, pp. 37, 47–50, 52, 61, fig. 4, discusses Abraham Casembrot's involvement in its commission.
Walter Liedtke. "The Milkmaid" by Johannes Vermeer. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2009, p. 6.
Keith Christiansen inPhilippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977–2008. New York, 2009, p. 36.
Walter Liedtke inPhilippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977–2008. New York, 2009, p. 40, fig. 50 (color detail).
Walter Liedtke. "Rembrandt Revelations at the Metropolitan Museum." Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen, Beiheft: Wissenschaft auf der Suche 51 (2009), p. 46.
Elena Phipps. "Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Color." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 67 (Winter 2010), pp. 35, 37, fig. 60 (color).
Helen Langdon inSalvator Rosa. Exh. cat., Dulwich Picture Gallery. London, 2010, pp. 39, 200.
Helen Langdon and Xavier F. Salomon inSalvator Rosa. Exh. cat., Dulwich Picture Gallery. London, 2010, p. 123.
Renato Ruotolo inArtemisia Gentileschi: storia di una passione. Ed. Roberto Contini and Francesco Solinas. Exh. cat., Palazzo Reale, Milan. Pero (Milan), 2011, p. 128, fig. 5 (color) [English ed., "Artemisia Gentileschi: The Story of a Passion"].
Dennis P. Weller inRembrandt in America: Collecting and Connoisseurship. Exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art. New York, 2011, pp. 20, 169 n. 31, fig. 2 (color).
George S. Keyes inRembrandt in America: Collecting and Connoisseurship. Exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art. New York, 2011, p. 74.
Akira Kofuku and Bob van den Boogert inRembrandt: The Quest for Chiaroscuro. Exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art. Tokyo, 2011, p. 213, fig. 2 (color).
Christopher D. M. Atkins. The Signature Style of Frans Hals: Painting, Subjectivity, and the Market in Early Modernity. Amsterdam, 2012, p. 66, fig. 40 (color).
Francesco Petrucci. Pier Francesco Mola (1612–1666): Materia e colore nella pittura del '600. Rome, 2012, p. 326.
Mitchell A. Codding inSorolla and America. Ed. Blanca Pons-Sorolla and Mark A. Roglán. Exh. cat., Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University. Dallas, 2013, p. 55 [Spanish ed., "Sorolla y Estados Unidos," Madrid, 2014, p. 63].
Important Old Master Paintings. Sotheby's, New York. January 30, 2014, p. 42, under no. 11.
Caterina Volpi. Salvator Rosa (1615–1673): "pittore famoso". Rome, 2014, p. 361, fig. 296 (color).
Kathryn Calley Galitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings. New York, 2016, p. 289, no. 239, ill. pp. 233, 289 (color).
Old Masters: Day Sale. Christie's, London. December 9, 2016, p. 35, under no. 123.
John Marciari inHans Memling: Portraiture, Piety, and a Reunited Altarpiece. Ed. John Marciari. Exh. cat., Morgan Library & Museum, New York. London, 2016, p. 20.
Joanna Sheers Seidenstein. "Grace, Genius, and the Longinian Sublime in Rembrandt's 'Aristotle with a Bust of Homer'." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 8 (Summer 2016), unpaginated, figs. 1, 4 (color, overall and detail) [DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2016.8.2.5].
Master Paintings & Sculpture: Evening Sale. Sotheby's, New York. January 25, 2017, p. 89, fig. 1 (color), under no. 26.
Diana J. Kostyrko. The Journal of a Transatlantic Art Dealer: René Gimpel 1918–1939. London, 2017, p. 79 n. 13, pp. 81, 84 n. 35.
Jeroen Giltaij. "A Note on Rembrandt's 'Aristotle', 'Alexander' and 'Homer'." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 9 (Winter 2017), unpaginated, fig. 3. (color) [DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2017.9.1.14].
Natalia Gozzano inRubens, Van Dyck, Ribera: La collezione di un principe. Ed. Antonio Ernesto Denunzio, Giuseppe Porzio, and Renato Ruotolo. Exh. cat., Gallerie d'Italia, Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, Naples. Cinisello Balsamo, Milan, 2018, p. 28.
Old Masters Evening Sale. Sotheby's, London. July 4, 2018, p. 289, under no. 63.
Jean-Louis Backès inHomère. Ed. Alexandre Farnoux et al. Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre-Lens. Paris, 2019, p. 36, fig. 3 (color).
Old Masters. Christie's, New York. October 15, 2020, p. 156, under no. 50, fig. 5 (color).
Letizia Treves inArtemisia. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 2020, p. 190.
Dolores Delgado inRembrandt and Amsterdam Portraiture, 1590–1670. Ed. Norbert Middelkoop. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. [Madrid], [2020], p. 38.
Aneta Georgievska-Shine. "Aristotle's Difference." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 16 (Winter 2024), unpaginated, figs. 1, 8, 19 (color, overall and details) [DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2024.16.1.4].
Elizabeth A. Pergam. "The Met's Reinstallation of Its European Paintings and Northern Renaissance Galleries Aims to Set Exhibits in Their Global Context." Burlington Magazine 166 (April 2024), p. 393.
Fran Lebowitz goes behind-the-scenes to The Met’s Paintings Conservation Lab to see Rembrandt’s _[Aristotle with a Bust of Homer](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437394)_ [(1653)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437394).
Assistant Curator Adam Eaker welcomes readers to In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met, a new exhibition that expands the narrative of one of the most celebrated chapters in art history.
The Monuments Men were a group of men and women who risked their lives to preserve Europe's cultural treasures during World War II. Archivists Melissa Bowling and James Moske tell their story using a wealth of material in the Metropolitan's archives.
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
1658
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