Alexander and Diogenes

This is the only subject from ancient history that Breenbergh is known to have depicted. After his election as general of the Greeks, the only minister and philosopher who did not come to congratulate Alexander the Great was Diogenes of Sinope. Surprised by this, Alexander visited the Cynic, who lived in a barrel in Cranium, a suburb just outside the city walls of Corinth. He invited Diogenes to ask any favour he might choose, whereupon the philosopher simply gestured to Alexander to step aside, as he was blocking him from the sun. The story, first recorded by Diogenes Laërtius in his Lives of Eminent Philosophers (VI: 38) and later by Plutarch in his Lives (XXXIII: 14), was a popular example of the virtues of the simple life in Dutch seventeenth-century painting. Breenbergh sets the scene near a mediterranean port with city walls reminiscent of Rome. The ascetic philosopher, who is seated in front of his barrel surrounded by books, is depicted in brownish tones. The contrast with the opulence of Alexander and his entourage standing in the warm yellowish light is emphasized by the use of bright colours for their rich dress, with the intense red of the Emperor's cloak catching the eye.