1title: Demócrito (Geógrafo sonriente)
artist: Diego Velázquez
date: circa 1630
(according to Lopez-Rey 1628-1629)medium: technique oil canvas
dimensions: 101х81
current location: Musée des Beaux Arts Rouen
source: link
credit: link
description:
This imaginary ‘portrait’ of the Greek philosopher Democritus by Velázquez recalls the artist’s actual portrayal of a court jester to King Philip II of Spain, Pablo de Valladolid. In fact the subject’s ‘spaniel’s ears’ haircut and his right hand holding a hat in the shadows are both reminiscent of the portrait of the real-life model.
The presence of the globe, however, to which the man is seen pointing, the fact that he is standing so closely to the artefact in such a reduced space, combined with the amused look on his face, all identify this character as the cynical philosopher displaying his scepticism about the world around us. In the early 17th century Democritus was often associated with Heraclitus, ‘the weeping philosopher’, a pairing that constituted an invitation to meditate on two opposing attitudes to the mediocrity of this world. In Spain, Flanders and Italy at the start of the 17th century, this theme of the philosopher was especially in vogue to decorate the studies and libraries of aristocrats keen to display their humanism.
This particular painting is difficult to date as a result of various modifications carried out by the artist. Both the rich ochre hues of the cloak, which discreetly reproduces a motif from the artist’s Sevillian period, and the pictorial, fluid representation of the face seem to date the work to around 1630. However, the downward-turning left hand, with its very carefully-worked treatment, originally pointed in the opposite direction: the painting had in fact been transformed by the artist, who initially intended to portray a jolly reveller, as we are led to conclude by two contemporary copies of the work in which the subject is depicted brandishing a glass of wine. It would seem that Velázquez later found him ideally suited for conversion into a Democritus, in keeping with the vogue for ‘portraits’ of philosophers that had been popularised in particular by Jusepe de Ribera.
Together with the portrait of Saint Thomas in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Orleans, this painting is one of only two works by Velázquez conserved in France.license:Public domain
2title: German Man Throwing a Stone - Walters 61137
artist:
Anonymous (Germany)date: circa 1520 (Early Modern)
medium: oak wood, paint
dimensions: size cm 81.5 25.8 13.9
current location: Acquired by Henry Walters, 1922
credit: Walters Art Museum:
Home page 
Info about artworkdescription: This finely carved figure of a man is dressed, except for his fanciful hat, as a mercenary soldier. He is depicted throwing stones (or possibly clods of earth or pieces of gnarled wood) and is likely from a group representing the Stoning of Saint Stephen.
license:Public domain
3title: Workshop of Rembrandt van Rijn Head of an Old Man - Walters 37298
artist: Workshop of Rembrandt
date: between 1635 and 1640 (Baroque)
medium: oil on panel
dimensions: size cm 20.6 17.7
current location: Acquired by Henry Walters
credit: Walters Art Museum:
Home page Info about artworkdescription: This broadly brushed study was made in Rembrandt's workshop in the late 1630s by a student. There are other studies of this man's head from different directions. Rembrandt operated a school within his workshop, and many young men studied with him to learn his expressive style. They set up their easels in a circle around the model-perhaps a poor man from the neighborhood who had an interesting face. Rembrandt was one of the first to see the faces of the elderly, reflecting a lifetime of experience, as wonderful subjects. With loose brush strokes and selective highlighting, the painter explores the sitter's lined, weathered face.
license:Public domain
4title: Italian Portrait of a Young Man, Possibly Cesare Borgia (?) - Walters 27199
artist:
Anonymous (Italy)date: 15th century (Renaissance)
medium: Technique terracotta
dimensions: size cm height=34.6
current location: Acquired by Henry Walters, 1927
credit: Walters Art Museum:
Home page Info about artworklicense:Public domain
5title: A surgeon (whose features resemble a monkey's) is treating t Wellcome V0016750
artist: After David Teniers the Younger
source: link * Gallery: link * Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-03-22): link [link CC-BY-4.0]
credit: link Gallery: link Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-03-22): link CC-BY-4.0
description:
A surgeon (whose features resemble a monkey's) is treating the foot of an elderly man, his concerned wife observes the scene and an assistant enters the room with a bowl. Lithograph by R. Beltran after J. de Madrazo after D. Teniers, the younger.
Iconographic Collections
Keywords: Ramon Beltran; David Teniers; Frederigo de Madrazolicense:Public domain
6title: Andrzej Rey (zm. 1641)
artist: Rembrandt
date: 1637
medium: Oil on panel
dimensions: size cm height=96.8 width=66
current location: Institution:National Gallery of Art West Building, Floor|0 , Room|48
source: National Gallery of Art
credit: National Gallery of Art
description:
Portret rey (zm. 1641)">Andrzeja Reya (zm. 1641), dyplomaty i ambasadora Rzeczypospolitej.license:Public domain
7title: An old man with spectacles and one hand behind his back painting on a wooden block, illustration for 'El Rey que Rabio' MET DP869413
artist:
date: circa 1880 –1910
medium: Etching on zinc
dimensions: Sheet: 6 3/4 × 4 5/8 in. (17.1 × 11.7 cm) Image: 5 5/16 × 3 3/8 in. (13.5 × 8.5 cm)
current location: Institution:Metropolitan Museum of Art
source: link Template:TheMet
credit: This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy
license:
CC0
8title: Jesús y los fariseos (Jesus and the Pharisees) (BM 1858,0417.851)
artist:
Print made by: Gaspar Sensi
- After: Antonio Fernández Arias
- Published by: Real Establecimiento Litográfico
date: 1826-1832 (circa)
medium: paper
dimensions: : Height: 437 millimetres : Width: 391 millimetres
current location: Institution:British Museum
source: link
credit: link
description: Jesus standing whole-length holding a coin in his left hand and pointing with his right to bespectacled man showing coins in the palm of his left hand; group of spectators conversing on the left soldiers and kneeling man with bag with a verse from the New Testament inscribed on the right; landscape and architectures in the background. c.1826-1832
Lithograph, on grey chine collélicense:Public domain
9title: Colección litográfica de cuadros del Rey de España (BM 1869,0410.1361)
artist:
Print made by: Francesco Garzoli
- After: Titian
date: 1825-1836 (circa)
medium: paper
dimensions: : Height: 319 millimetres : Width: 240 millimetres (image area)
current location: Institution:British Museum
source: link
credit: link
description: A standing man, three-quarter length facing right with a chain round his neck and holding in his hands gloves and his belt, after the painting by Titian in the Prado. c.1825-1836
Lithograph on grey chine collélicense:Public domain
title: La familia de Carlos IV, Francisco de GoyaFXD
artist: Francisco Goya
date: 1800-1801
medium: Oil on canvas
dimensions: Size cm 280 336
current location: Institution:Museo del Prado floor|1 , room|32
source: Derived from|La familia de Carlos IV, Francisco de Goya.jpg|display=120
credit: This file was derived from: La familia de Carlos IV, Francisco de Goya.jpg:
license:Public domain
_-_Walters_27199.jpg){kind=small}
_is_treating_t_Wellcome_V0016750.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
_(BM_1858,0417.851).jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
