Rembrandt: The Art of Empathy

Rembrandt: The Art of Empathy
A detail of “Flora,” circa 1654, by Rembrandt. Oil on canvas, 39 3/8 inches by 36 1/8 inches. Gift of Archer M. Huntington, in memory of his father, Collis Potter Huntington, 1926. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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NEW YORK—I recently visited The Metropolitan Museum’s ongoing exhibition “In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces.”  As I was just about to leave, a  woman grabbed my attention. 
She is a deity, in fact. Her name is “Flora,” Rembrandt’s painting of the Roman goddess of spring. What struck me most was her soft, understated elegance and aura, which literally froze me 20 feet away.