Rembrandt’s Inner Life: Alive at The Met

Iconic works on display at ‘In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces’

A close-up of “Aristotle with a Bust of Homer,” 1653, by Rembrandt van Rijn. Oil on canvas, 56 1/2 inches by 53 3/4 inches. Purchase, special contributions and funds given or bequeathed by friends of the Museum, 1961. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

NEW YORK—A few years back, I wrote about one of the royal British portrait painters who often referred to one of his greatest inspirations, 17th-century Dutch maestro Rembrandt van Rijn.

“There are so many artists that go back to the great master,” says Nadine Orenstein, The Metropolitan Museum’s Drue Heinz curator in charge of the department of drawings and prints.