Diogenes, J. W. Waterhouse

"Diogenes" is a technically very complex work, painted in 1882 by John William Waterhouse. The composition uses a vanishing point and is constructed by interweaving the characters in motion and the stones that form the staircase. It depicts a historical Greek scene, at the top: high-class maidens, further down one of them takes an interest in the strange man inside the jar, it is Diogenes of Sinope, a philosopher who lived as a beggar in Athens, 1st century BC.

The work is currently on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Art Gallery of New South Wales).