Anonymous (possibly Willem Drost (1633-1659).

Diogenes searching for an honest man with a lamp.

[Amsterdam?, ca. 1650].

19,5 x 25,5 cm. Brown ink on laid paper, watermarked France & Navarre (ca. 1650).

Dutch mid-17^th century drawing, possibly by Rembrandt pupil Willem Drost. Depicted is Diogenes in robes, with his lantern in his left hand and a staff in his right and a group of four figures. Diogenes the Cynic (4^th cent. BC) renounced material possessions and lived in poverty. He would go out with a lighted lantern in broad daylight to look for an honest man, instead he would only find that everyone around him was morally corrupted. He would scare passersby with his lantern, causing them to lose their mask and reveal their true intentions.
In the present drawing the group of four is clearly scared by the lantern of Diogenes, who seems to be towering over them. In fact the artist has placed Diogenes on a higher plane than the passersby, an invention that effectively enhances the morality of the scene. This is not found in other contemporary depictions of the same story by artists like Rubens, Sandrart, Castiglione and Jordaens.
The artist displays a masterful understanding and application of chiaroscuro. Not only does he use it for the composition, he also applies it to benefit the narrative. Light is literally and figuratively at the center of the scene. The artist from the “Rembrandt school” who made most use of stark chiaroscuro in his drawings was Willem Drost (1633-1659). He became a student of Rembrandt around 1650, which corresponds with the dating of the watermark. The style of drawing is also close to drawings attributed to Drost. The facial type of Diogenes, in particular the pointy nose, corresponds with that found in each of Drost’s drawings in the Rijksmuseum. Also the hatchings match those in other works by Drost, who made much use of individual lines instead of a continuous zig-zagging stroke and penstrokes of varying thickness to create depth in his compositions (Bonny van Sighem, 2000).

Condition: Number 3 in pencil at the bottom, previous attribution to Ferdinand Bol written in pencil on the back. Several small brown spots and a couple minor defects, including one on the face of the central figure in the group, top edge slightly frayed and creaded. Old repair with tape on the back at the top.

Literature: B. van Sighem, 'attributed to Willem Drost, David Prevents Abishai from Killing Saul, Amsterdam, c. 1650 - c. 1655', in J. Turner (ed.), Drawings by Rembrandt and his School in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam 2000 Bonny van Sighem, 2000; for the watermark cf. Churchill, fig. 305; Heawood 305 & 307.