Active today in more than 35 countries and a global leader in wild cat conservation, Panthera works to protect 40 different species of wild cats. The organization focuses, of course, on the “big seven”—tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, mountain lions, cheetahs and snow leopards—but also on 33 lesser-known species of small wild cats. According to Kaplan, because wild cats sit at the very top of the food chain, an entire ecosystem must be in balance before they can survive in a given environment. With Rembrandt, there is the Leiden Collection; with cats, Panthera; with history, his academic path through Oxford, where he earned his PhD. “Before Rembrandt, beauty followed strict, idealized forms shaped largely by Italian and Spanish, church-influenced traditions.