In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky makes reference to this painting by Ivan Kramskoy (The Contemplator, 1876) in describing Smerdyakov: "he stands as if he were lost in thought, but he is not thinking, he is 'contemplating' something." A contemplator greedily stores up impressions he had been under while contemplating, even without realizing it. Why and… Continue reading The Contemplator