Diogenes and His Cup

Diogenes was an ancient Greek philosopher who valued poverty and shunned worldly goods, to the extent that he discarded his drinking bowl when he observed a youth drinking water from cupped hands, as depicted here. The print was made by the eccentric Neapolitan artist Salvator Rosa, who rejected conventional patronage in order to focus on themes that interested him. The placement of the narrative within a lush landscape is typical of Rosa’s approach, as is the emphasis on the unconventional principles of his subject, with which he identified.