Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

Rembrandt van Rijn

1653 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

Bathsheba at Her Bath

Danaë

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

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About this work

Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669)
Year: 1653
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 143.5 × 136.5 cm
Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Movement: Dutch Golden Age

A bearded philosopher in a broad-sleeved robe rests his hand on a marble bust of Homer, the gold chain across his chest carrying a medallion of his pupil Alexander the Great. Rembrandt painted it in 1653 for Don Antonio Ruffo, a nobleman in Messina, Sicily, who had asked for a picture without specifying the subject; Rembrandt later supplied Ruffo with a Homer and a lost Alexander. The theme is fame measured against time: the living thinker weighing his own standing against a poet already immortal for centuries. The dark palette and thickly built-up paint were by then going out of fashion in Amsterdam, which makes it a telling choice for a foreign patron. The Metropolitan Museum of Art bought it in 1961 for 2.3 million dollars, at the time the highest price ever paid for a painting, and retitled it from Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer in 2013.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; 12×18 and 16×24 and 24×36 also available framed in black or natural wood • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is Aristotle with a Bust of Homer in the public domain?

Yes. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Aristotle with a Bust of Homer painted, and in what medium?

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer dates from 1653 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 143.5 × 136.5 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (Rembrandt van Rijn) — Aristotle with a Bust of Homer · Rembrandt van Rijn · 1653. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

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