American Art Collaborative

The artist whom Miller most frequently copied while visiting the Louvre was Rembrandt. He undoubtedly was attracted by the dramatic contrast between light and shadow appearing in "The Philosopher in Meditation", the Rembrandt painting that is the subject of this drawing. Alfred Jacob Miller was a prolific sketcher. He filled many journals with drawings and captions from the time he was studying in Paris and Rome (1833) until the 1870's. The varied interests of Miller are clearly reflected in these sketches: rural sites, studies after Old Master paintings, illustrations of literature, and comical scenes and characters. This sketch comes from the family album of L. Vernon Miller, which contains works that have passed down through the Miller family directly from the artist.