Contemplation

I was struck by this painting in the Guardian's list of 20 must-see works of art. It is by Rembrandt, and is a portrait of Aristotle contemplating a bust of Homer (1654). The imagined confrontation of these two intellects is striking. Aristotle's eyes are tired and disillusioned, but Homer's, though dead, are wide, full of vision. The Guardian comments:

"So a man who profitably serves power admires the innocent unworldly artist Homer. Homer's dark poetic eyes, that truly see, fathom what Aristotle's reason cannot".

Ok, so the point is a little trite - but I love it anyway. It reminded me, more than anything else, of another imagined meeting of minds worked into art.

This is Rheinhold's "Philosophizing Monkey", a miniature famously kept by Lenin on his desk. An ape sits on a pile of books, one of which carries the label "Darwin", and studies a human skull, hand on chin. It's not quite a Hamlet moment - but you have to love the irony.

I just thought that the look in the ape's eyes was very similar to that in Rembrandt's Aristotle. The skull, dead like Homer, seems to be having the last laugh.

I'm not sure which of these four figures I relate to best. They all touch me in different ways.

Anyway, if you have 20 favourite paintings of your own to share the Guardian website is the place to go to let people know about them.