Socrates Looking in a Mirror
Medium
Mezzotint
Dimensions
Sheet: 14 9/16 × 11 1/4 in. (37 × 28.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund, Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest, 1982
Accession Number
1982.1094.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *Socrates Looking in a*, a captivating 17th-century mezzint attributed to Dutch engraver Bernard Vaillant an original by Spanish Baroque master Jusepe de Rib, known as Lo Spagno. This intimate print, measuring 14 9/16 × 11 1/4 inches, the ancient philosopher in a moment of profound self-reflection, gazing into a mirror—an enduring symbol of introspection tied to Socrates' famous dictum, "Know thyself." Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it entered the collection through the A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund and Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest in 1982. M...
About the Artist
Bernard Vaillant|Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto) · 1632–1698
Comment on works: portraits; engraver