Diego Velazquez - Democritus (Mann mit Globus)

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.