# Diogenes Seeks a True Man [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [EVERDINGEN, Caesar van]() - Date: 1651-1700 - Technique: Oil on canvas on panel, 76 x 104 cm ## Commentary The philosopher Diogenes stands in the middle of a crowd and holds up a lantern. This is how he appeared in the market place of Athens in broad daylight. The anecdote, which originated in classical times, was widely represented in Dutch art. Asked what he was doing, Diogenes said he was looking for a man. But there are people all around, the bystanders remarked, to which he replied: 'I see not one, for there is no reason in your hearts. You may be men in name, but your brutish lives betray you as animals in reality'. Everdingen staged the classical story as a contemporary scene on a typical Dutch town square with portraits of contemporaries. ## Related artworks - [Allegory of the Birth of Frederik Hendrik]() - [Amor Holding a Glass Orb]() - [Bacchus with Nymphs and Cupid]() - [Count Willem II of Holland Granting Privileges]() - [Four Muses and Pegasus on Parnassus]() - [Holy Family]() - [Jupiter and Callisto]() - [Lycurgus Demonstrates the Benefits of Education]() - [Nymphs Offering the Young Bacchus Wine, Fruit and Flowers]() - [Officers and Standard-Bearers of the Old Civic Guard]() - [Portrait of a Girl as a Huntress]() - [Portrait of a Two-Year-Old Boy]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()