Diogenes throwing away his drinking cup

Details

Giovanni Paolo Panini Piacenza 1691-1765 Rome
Diogenes throwing away his drinking cup
oil on canvas
38½ x 49½ in. 97.8 x 125.7 cm.

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Galleria Manzoni, Milan, 26 February 1970, no. 41, as Panini.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 3 March 1972, lot 22, as 'Panini'.

Literature

F. Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini e i fasti della Roma del '700, Rome, 1986, p. 351, no. 241.

Lot Essay

Diogenes of Sinope (4th century BC) was an Athenian philosopher known for his austere lifestyle. This painting illustrates a story from Laërtius (6:37) which tells how Diogenes, upon seeing a child drinking from his cupped hands, threw away his drinking cup.

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