Philosopher in Meditation
Encyclopedia
Philosopher in Meditation (Bredius 431) is the traditional title of an oil painting in the Musée du Louvre
, Paris
, that has long been attributed to the 17th-century Dutch artist Rembrandt. It is signed "RHL-van Rijn" and dated 1632, at the time of Rembrandt's move from Leiden to Amsterdam. Recent scholarship suggests that the painting depicts "Tobit and Anna waiting for their son Tobias" instead. The painting appeared in Paris around the middle of the 18th century and made the rounds of aristocratic collections before being acquired for the royal collections housed in the Louvre Palace. The presumed subject matter, the finely graded chiaroscuro
treatment and intricate composition were widely appreciated in France and the painting is mentioned in the writings of many 19th- and 20th-century literary figures, including George Sand
, Théophile Gautier
, Jules Michelet
, Marcel Proust
, Paul Valéry
, Gaston Bachelard
, Paul Claudel
, and Aldous Huxley
. The popularity of the painting may be measured by its presence on the internet, where it is often used as an emblem of philosophy
, or interpreted along esoteric or occult lines.
," a subject that would allow for other figures, such as an assistant tending a fire. The objects depicted suggest a domestic setting, yet the improbable architecture speaks more for a history than a genre subject. The French art historian Jean-Marie Clarke argues that the scene is ultimately derived from the Book of Tobit
or Tobias, one of Rembrandt's favorite Old Testament
sources. The sole objection to this interpretation is that, apart from the two main figures—the blind Tobit and his wife Anna— there is no identifying attribute, such as Anna's spinning wheel. Nevertheless, a plausible interpretation of the scene is Tobit and Anna waiting for the return of their only son, Tobia, a scene that Rembrandt had already represented in another version in 1630. This is supported by an 18th-century source identifying a painting of the same dimensions by Rembrandt representing a "Composition with Tobit and a winding stair." Earlier inventory mentions of a "winding stair with an old man sitting on a chair" or "winding stair" attributed to Rembrandt are vague and might even refer to the companion painting long attributed to Rembrandt, but now given to Salomon Koninck.
Although the title in the Louvre's publications remains Philosophe en méditation, catalogues of Rembrandt's painted oeuvre, starting with Bredius (1935) identify the subject more soberly as a "Scholar in an Interior with a Winding Stair." With the rejection of the attribution to Rembrandt by the Rembrandt Research Project
in 1986, the title became "Old Man in an interior with a winding staircase."
, who whittled Rembrandt's oeuvre down to less than fifty paintings and made short shrift of the Louvre's Philosophers: "Small pictures over which, in the past, there has been much spilling of good printer's ink with no marked results. The pictures are not wonderful...". In 1955, examinations with X-rays and infrared photography at the laboratory of the Louvre revealed notable differences in treatment and caused this attribution to be dropped. Jacques Foucart (1982), Curator for Dutch and Fleming Painting at the Louvre, like Horst Gerson (1968) and Werner Sumowski (1983), attributes this work to Salomon Koninck (1609–1656), a Rembrandt imitator, dating it to around 1645 and titling it Philosopher in Contemplation or Philosopher with an Open Book. Yet the real credit for the attribution to Koninck should go to John C. Van Dyke, who wrote: "In fact, one may be heretical enough to think that someone like Koninck or Dou may have painted them..." The subject matter and details of the Koninck picture seem to have been directly inspired by a Rembrandt etching dated 1642 and representing St. Jerome in a dark chamber (Bartsch
105), which is the only other known work by Rembrandt that features a complete helical staircase. The traditional iconography of the Doctors of the Church and St. Jerome in particular provided the attributes for 17th-century representations of scholars in their study. In the last analysis, the only thing that the pendant has in common with the Philosopher in Meditation is the medium and format, which reflects more on Koninck's intentions than on those of Rembrandt.
"In the later part of the 18th century the painting enjoyed a great reputation in France as Le Philosophe en contemplation, and it helped to determine the image of Rembrandt's art to an unwarranted extent."
This disattribution was not accepted by the Louvre and other Rembrandt scholars, and the newly configured RRP seems to have taken a more moderate stance since. In the fifth volume of the Corpus (2011), which covers "small history paintings," the painting is discussed by the current director of the RRP, Ernst van de Wetering
, in terms that clearly imply Rembrandt's authorship.
in Dornach (1916), the ex-theosophist
and founder of the Anthroposophical Society
, Rudolf Steiner
, described the Louvre Philosopher as the "purest expression of light and dark... All that you see here—the architecture and all the other features—merely provided the occasion for the real work of Art, which lies in the distribution of light and dark." This, he held, was precisely the essence of Rembrandt's art. However, it is not clear which of the two Louvre Philosophers he showed in his "lantern" slides.
With his inversion of the title, Aldous Huxley
(1954) sums up most of the "deeper" interpretations of the painting: "There hangs in the Louvre a Méditation du Philosophe, whose symbolical subject-matter is nothing more or less than the human mind, with its teeming darknesses, its moments of intellectual and visionary illuminations, its mysterious staircases winding downwards and upwards into the unknown.
The caption to an illustration of the painting (reversed) in the psychoanalyst
C. G. Jung's Man and His Symbols (1964) reads: "The inward-looking old man provides an image of Jung's belief that each of us must explore his own unconscious."
Jean-Marie Clarke (1980) advanced a psychological interpretation based on the circular form of the composition and the Yin-Yang
-like distribution of light, reading the painting as a Mandala
in the Jungian sense: an archetypal symbol of the integrated Self. The chiaroscuro treatment and the presence of many straight lines that are structued by curved lines speaks for a deliberate effort at reconciling the Opposites. Further, Clarke interpreted the concentricity of the composition and wealth of circular motifs as metaphors for the underlying theme of the painting: the eye and vision. Like Julius Held , Clarke believes that the drawing dated ca. 1630 at the Ashmolean Museum
in Oxford
(Benesch 64) with the caption "HARMAN GERRITS van der Rhijn" written in Rembrandt's hand that shows his father in a pose simlar to that of Tobit here, suggests that he may have been blind at the end of his life. Accordingly, the figure of the blind old man (Tobit) stands for Rembrandt's father (d. 1630), who opposed his son's wish to become an artist and whose vision the young Rembrandt (Tobias) "healed" with the help of the archangel Raphael
(a name that symbolizes Art). More recently, Clarke published an interpretation on the internet that relates Rembrandt's composition to the design of his signature in 1632.
Jean-Pierre Dautun (1983), a student of the French philosopher Raymond Abellio
, offers a detailed phenomenological reading along Gnostic
lines, interpreting the central motif of the painting (the basketwork tray) as "the navel, the omphalos
of the luminous hermetic secret that Rembrandt wishes to transmit: the phenomenological secret that the eye of the genius will be given to those who will conquer the genius of the eye. It is the ineffable secret of this transmission itself, the 'thou art that
' of this mutus liber
that is his painting, as if to permit an Occidental satori
to a koan of his own devise." The French philosophy professor Régine Pietra (1992) published an essay in which she used the painting to illustrate the rhetorical figure of hypotyposis; Rembrandt's painting, with its interplay of light and dark, renders the experience of philosophical meditation visually perceptible.
The Dutch philosopher Otto B. Wiersma (1999) published an article on the internet that he summarizes in these terms:
"The painting of Rembrandt Philosophe en méditation (1632, Louvre Paris) can be characterized as a pictorial meditation on the miracle of vision. A better title would be Méditation visionnaire, because the painting catches the eye in more than one sense."
A discussion of the Philosopher in Meditation along essentially Gurdjeffian lines can be found on the Objective Art website (2011).
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, that has long been attributed to the 17th-century Dutch artist Rembrandt. It is signed "RHL-van Rijn" and dated 1632, at the time of Rembrandt's move from Leiden to Amsterdam. Recent scholarship suggests that the painting depicts "Tobit and Anna waiting for their son Tobias" instead. The painting appeared in Paris around the middle of the 18th century and made the rounds of aristocratic collections before being acquired for the royal collections housed in the Louvre Palace. The presumed subject matter, the finely graded chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....
treatment and intricate composition were widely appreciated in France and the painting is mentioned in the writings of many 19th- and 20th-century literary figures, including George Sand
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
, Théophile Gautier
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
, Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet was a French historian. He was born in Paris to a family with Huguenot traditions.-Early life:His father was a master printer, not very prosperous, and Jules assisted him in the actual work of the press...
, Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
, Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
, Gaston Bachelard
Gaston Bachelard
Gaston Bachelard was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter he introduced the concepts of epistemological obstacle and epistemological break...
, Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism.-Life:...
, and Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
. The popularity of the painting may be measured by its presence on the internet, where it is often used as an emblem of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, or interpreted along esoteric or occult lines.
Description
Painted in oils on an oak panel measuring about 11 x 13 in. (28 x 34 cm), the painting depicts in slightly accelerated perspective two figures in a partially vaulted interior that is dominated by a wooden spiral staircase. The architecture includes stone, brick and wood, with arched elements (window, vault, doors) that create an impression of monumentality. On the pre-iconographic level, this is one of the most "graphic" works painted by Rembrandt, in the sense that it contains many straight, curved, circular, and radiating lines: from the lines of the flagstones to those of the window, the bricks, the wainscotting, and of course the staircase. As in the staircase and the basketwork tray at the center of the composition, the curved lines can be said to organize the straight lines. The first figure is that of an old man seated at a table in front of a window, his head bowed and his hands folded in his lap. The second figure is that of an old woman tending a fire in an open hearth. A third figure—a woman standing in the stairs carrying a basket and turned to the spectator—is visible in 18th- and 19th-century engraved reproductions of the painting, but virtually invisible in the painting's present state. As it is, the overall painting is quite dark due to the aging of the varnish.Signature
The panel is signed "RHL-van Rijn 163_" at the bottom and left of the center, at a vertical from the figure of the old man. The signature is traced in light pigment on a dark background and is quite difficult to make out. The last digit is a tiny blob of paint, the form and placing of which would tally with a "0," "1" or "2." The type of signature-monogram plus patronymic-would argue for 1632, for the artist used this type of signature only in this year. This does not mean that the picture was painted in that year or even in Amsterdam, to which Rembrandt had moved in late 1631. In any case, this type of signature is so rare in Rembrandt's oeuvre and date-specific that it argues for authenticity.Subject matter
While the traditional title Philosopher in Meditation has to a large extent been responsible for the painting's popularity, it is iconographically untenable. The painting shows none of the conspicuous attributes of scholarship or philosophy—books, globe, scientific instruments, etc.—and the presence of at least one other figure involved in domestic tasks does not fit in with the solitude associated with study and meditation. Though a large book and a quill seem to be among the few objects on the table in front of the main figure, they are summarily depicted and impossible to identify more precisely: a Bible alone would not suffice to make the figure depicted a scholar or "philosopher." Staircases—whether spiral or not—were not an attribute of philosophy in the early 17th century. Similar observations argue against identifying the main figure as an "alchemistAlchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
," a subject that would allow for other figures, such as an assistant tending a fire. The objects depicted suggest a domestic setting, yet the improbable architecture speaks more for a history than a genre subject. The French art historian Jean-Marie Clarke argues that the scene is ultimately derived from the Book of Tobit
Book of Tobit
The Book of Tobit is a book of scripture that is part of the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon, pronounced canonical by the Council of Carthage of 397 and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the Council of Trent...
or Tobias, one of Rembrandt's favorite Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
sources. The sole objection to this interpretation is that, apart from the two main figures—the blind Tobit and his wife Anna— there is no identifying attribute, such as Anna's spinning wheel. Nevertheless, a plausible interpretation of the scene is Tobit and Anna waiting for the return of their only son, Tobia, a scene that Rembrandt had already represented in another version in 1630. This is supported by an 18th-century source identifying a painting of the same dimensions by Rembrandt representing a "Composition with Tobit and a winding stair." Earlier inventory mentions of a "winding stair with an old man sitting on a chair" or "winding stair" attributed to Rembrandt are vague and might even refer to the companion painting long attributed to Rembrandt, but now given to Salomon Koninck.
Although the title in the Louvre's publications remains Philosophe en méditation, catalogues of Rembrandt's painted oeuvre, starting with Bredius (1935) identify the subject more soberly as a "Scholar in an Interior with a Winding Stair." With the rejection of the attribution to Rembrandt by the Rembrandt Research Project
Rembrandt Research Project
The Rembrandt Research Project is an initiative of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek , which is the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Its purpose is to organize and categorize research on Rembrandt, with the aim of discovering new facts about this Dutch...
in 1986, the title became "Old Man in an interior with a winding staircase."
Companion painting: Philosopher in Contemplation or Philosopher with an Open Book
The best explanation for the long-standing misinterpretation of the Philosopher in Meditation lies in the fact that, in the middle of the 18th century, it was sold together with a pendant of identical size (28 x 33.5 cm) that presented similar motifs—including a spiral staircase—and that was also attributed to Rembrandt. The paintings were exhibited together and titled interchangeably Philosophe en méditation and Philosophe en contemplation, or referred to simply as the Philosophes. The companion painting shows an old man in a vaulted interior seated in front of a table at a window on which we can see books, a globe, and a crucifix. These objects and his solitude make him a much better candidate for philosophical endeavor than the old man in the alleged Philosopher in Meditation. In spite of the obvious differences in the composition and execution, no one called its attribution to Rembrandt in doubt. The great exception is the American art historian John C. Van DykeJohn Charles Van Dyke
John Charles Van Dyke was an American art historian and critic. He was born at New Brunswick, New Jersey, studied at Columbia, and for many years in Europe. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1877 but never practiced law. He was appointed librarian at Sage Library, New Brunswick in 1878,...
, who whittled Rembrandt's oeuvre down to less than fifty paintings and made short shrift of the Louvre's Philosophers: "Small pictures over which, in the past, there has been much spilling of good printer's ink with no marked results. The pictures are not wonderful...". In 1955, examinations with X-rays and infrared photography at the laboratory of the Louvre revealed notable differences in treatment and caused this attribution to be dropped. Jacques Foucart (1982), Curator for Dutch and Fleming Painting at the Louvre, like Horst Gerson (1968) and Werner Sumowski (1983), attributes this work to Salomon Koninck (1609–1656), a Rembrandt imitator, dating it to around 1645 and titling it Philosopher in Contemplation or Philosopher with an Open Book. Yet the real credit for the attribution to Koninck should go to John C. Van Dyke, who wrote: "In fact, one may be heretical enough to think that someone like Koninck or Dou may have painted them..." The subject matter and details of the Koninck picture seem to have been directly inspired by a Rembrandt etching dated 1642 and representing St. Jerome in a dark chamber (Bartsch
Adam Bartsch
Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch was an Austrian scholar and artist. His catalogue of Old master prints is the foundation of the Art History of printmaking, and he was himself a printmaker in engraving and etching....
105), which is the only other known work by Rembrandt that features a complete helical staircase. The traditional iconography of the Doctors of the Church and St. Jerome in particular provided the attributes for 17th-century representations of scholars in their study. In the last analysis, the only thing that the pendant has in common with the Philosopher in Meditation is the medium and format, which reflects more on Koninck's intentions than on those of Rembrandt.
Rembrandt Research Project and disattribution
In the second volume of its Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, which covers the years 1631-1634, the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) rejected the attribution to Rembrandt of the Philosopher in Meditation. Until then, and except for the "heretical" John C. Van Dyke, this attribution had been unanimously accepted by experts and art historians. The RRP did not introduce any new objective or documentary evidence, but based its judgment on an assessment of Rembrandt's "habits," an appraisal of the painting's style, and the difficulty of fitting it within Rembrandt's production in 1632 or the later 1630s. The RRP did not make any guesses as to who the author of this painting might have been, but relegated it to "Rembrandt's immediate circle, or even his own workshop." This judgment was analyzed by Jean-Marie Clarke who pointed out, among other things, that the RRP may have had a special stake in rejecting this painting, as the following quote suggests:"In the later part of the 18th century the painting enjoyed a great reputation in France as Le Philosophe en contemplation, and it helped to determine the image of Rembrandt's art to an unwarranted extent."
This disattribution was not accepted by the Louvre and other Rembrandt scholars, and the newly configured RRP seems to have taken a more moderate stance since. In the fifth volume of the Corpus (2011), which covers "small history paintings," the painting is discussed by the current director of the RRP, Ernst van de Wetering
Ernst Van De Wetering
Ernst van de Wetering, PhD is a Dutch art historian, considered the world's foremost expert on Rembrandt and his work.-Background:...
, in terms that clearly imply Rembrandt's authorship.
Esoteric, psychological and philosophical interpretations
In a lecture given at the GoetheanumGoetheanum
The Goetheanum, located in Dornach , Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement. Named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the center includes two performance halls , gallery and lecture spaces, a library, a bookstore, and administrative spaces for the Anthroposophical...
in Dornach (1916), the ex-theosophist
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
and founder of the Anthroposophical Society
Anthroposophical Society
The General Anthroposophical Society is an organization dedicated to supporting the community of those interested in the form of spiritual philosophy known as anthroposophy. The society was initiated during 1913 by members of the Theosophical Society in Germany, including Rudolf Steiner who was at...
, Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
, described the Louvre Philosopher as the "purest expression of light and dark... All that you see here—the architecture and all the other features—merely provided the occasion for the real work of Art, which lies in the distribution of light and dark." This, he held, was precisely the essence of Rembrandt's art. However, it is not clear which of the two Louvre Philosophers he showed in his "lantern" slides.
With his inversion of the title, Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
(1954) sums up most of the "deeper" interpretations of the painting: "There hangs in the Louvre a Méditation du Philosophe, whose symbolical subject-matter is nothing more or less than the human mind, with its teeming darknesses, its moments of intellectual and visionary illuminations, its mysterious staircases winding downwards and upwards into the unknown.
The caption to an illustration of the painting (reversed) in the psychoanalyst
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
C. G. Jung's Man and His Symbols (1964) reads: "The inward-looking old man provides an image of Jung's belief that each of us must explore his own unconscious."
Jean-Marie Clarke (1980) advanced a psychological interpretation based on the circular form of the composition and the Yin-Yang
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...
-like distribution of light, reading the painting as a Mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
in the Jungian sense: an archetypal symbol of the integrated Self. The chiaroscuro treatment and the presence of many straight lines that are structued by curved lines speaks for a deliberate effort at reconciling the Opposites. Further, Clarke interpreted the concentricity of the composition and wealth of circular motifs as metaphors for the underlying theme of the painting: the eye and vision. Like Julius Held , Clarke believes that the drawing dated ca. 1630 at the Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
(Benesch 64) with the caption "HARMAN GERRITS van der Rhijn" written in Rembrandt's hand that shows his father in a pose simlar to that of Tobit here, suggests that he may have been blind at the end of his life. Accordingly, the figure of the blind old man (Tobit) stands for Rembrandt's father (d. 1630), who opposed his son's wish to become an artist and whose vision the young Rembrandt (Tobias) "healed" with the help of the archangel Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
(a name that symbolizes Art). More recently, Clarke published an interpretation on the internet that relates Rembrandt's composition to the design of his signature in 1632.
Jean-Pierre Dautun (1983), a student of the French philosopher Raymond Abellio
Raymond Abellio
Raymond Abellio is the pseudonym of French writer Georges Soulès. He was born November 11, 1907 in Toulouse, and died August 26, 1986 in Nice.Abellio went to the Ecole Polytechnique and then took part in the X-Crise Group...
, offers a detailed phenomenological reading along Gnostic
Gnosis
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge . In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies 'spiritual knowledge' in the sense of mystical enlightenment.-Related...
lines, interpreting the central motif of the painting (the basketwork tray) as "the navel, the omphalos
Omphalos
An omphalos is an ancient religious stone artifact, or baetylus. In Greek, the word omphalos means "navel" . According to the ancient Greeks, Zeus sent out two eagles to fly across the world to meet at its center, the "navel" of the world...
of the luminous hermetic secret that Rembrandt wishes to transmit: the phenomenological secret that the eye of the genius will be given to those who will conquer the genius of the eye. It is the ineffable secret of this transmission itself, the 'thou art that
Tat Tvam Asi
Tat Tvam Asi , a Sanskrit sentence, translated variously as "That thou are," "Thou are that," "You are that," or "That you are," is one of the Mahāvākyas in Vedantic Sanatana Dharma...
' of this mutus liber
Mutus Liber
Mutus Liber was an alchemical text published in France in the later half of the 17th century. It professed to outline, through a series of mystical illustrations, a method of manufacturing the Philosopher's Stone...
that is his painting, as if to permit an Occidental satori
Satori
is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment that literally means "understanding". In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and is considered a "first step" or embarkation toward nirvana....
to a koan of his own devise." The French philosophy professor Régine Pietra (1992) published an essay in which she used the painting to illustrate the rhetorical figure of hypotyposis; Rembrandt's painting, with its interplay of light and dark, renders the experience of philosophical meditation visually perceptible.
The Dutch philosopher Otto B. Wiersma (1999) published an article on the internet that he summarizes in these terms:
"The painting of Rembrandt Philosophe en méditation (1632, Louvre Paris) can be characterized as a pictorial meditation on the miracle of vision. A better title would be Méditation visionnaire, because the painting catches the eye in more than one sense."
A discussion of the Philosopher in Meditation along essentially Gurdjeffian lines can be found on the Objective Art website (2011).