JIM NATAL: You know, being human is still being human, whether you’re in the 1600s or in the 2000s. And the emotions and the psychology [laughs], unfortunately, are pretty much the same.

My name is Jim Natal and I’m a poet.

I think when something is poetic, it takes the viewer or the reader or the listener to a different place.

NARRATOR: So, where is this painting taking us? Associate Curator Adam Eaker sees a meditation on the passage of time.

ADAM EAKER: We see here the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, and he has his hand placed on top of a bust of the ancient epic poet Homer. It’s important to remember that Homer lived centuries before Aristotle. And I like to think that Aristotle is asking himself what his own legacy will be in this moment.

NARRATOR: This painting was commissioned by a Sicilian nobleman, as part of a series depicting ancient philosophers.

ADAM EAKER: So Rembrandt himself didn’t choose this subject matter, but he certainly seems to have felt an affinity with this figure of an older man who has achieved great things but finds himself now in this melancholy moment of self-reflection. We know that at the time he received this commission that Rembrandt was much less successful than he’d been. He experienced bankruptcy, his style with very rough application of paint, very somber color palette, had gone completely out of fashion. So, I think at this moment, he’s projecting perhaps a lot of his own personal melancholy onto this figure of Aristotle.

NARRATOR: From a poet’s perspective, maybe this link between past and present is always alive...

JIM NATAL: It reminds us that artists, irrespective of their genre or medium, stand on the shoulders of those who preceded them. So, in a way, this could be Rembrandt honoring all those people who have come before in the world of creativity and art. Once I let a poem go, it has its own life in the world, just like an artist who puts a painting on a wall. You know, people are going to respond in the way they respond. And there is no incorrect response.