# Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

**Rembrandt van Rijn** (Dutch, 1606–1669)  
1653  
Oil on canvas  
56 1/2 x 53 3/4 in. (143.5 x 136.5 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 61.198. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437394).

## About this work

A philosopher in a broad black hat rests his hand on a marble bust of the blind poet Homer, while a heavy gold chain falls across his chest, carrying a medallion that bears the image of Alexander the Great, Aristotle’s most famous pupil. Rembrandt sets up a quiet triangle of thought: the thinker, the poet he admires and the worldly reward of a royal patron. The broad white sleeves are built up in thick, almost sculpted paint, while the face stays in half shadow, the gaze turned inward. The canvas was painted for the Sicilian collector Don Antonio Ruffo.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Rembrandt van Rijn painted this in 1653, aged 47. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Rembrandt van Rijn](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/rembrandt-van-rijn)

Dutch, 1606–1669; born in Leiden; died in Amsterdam

Rembrandt trained in Leiden and Amsterdam, settled in Amsterdam in the early 1630s and became the city’s most sought-after portraitist. His later work grows rougher and more searching, with thick paint, deep shadow and faces that seem lost in thought, as in Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, painted for a Sicilian collector. He was also the leading etcher of his age, reworking plates through many states and making the medium as expressive as painting.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was 47
- Real size: about 56 × 54 in (144 × 137 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 24 × 36 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: Men, Portraits
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1141.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1141/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/aristotle-with-a-bust-of-homer-met-437394).