Sir Edwin Landseer (1802鈥�73) was Victorian England鈥檚 leading painter of canine subjects. He was said to be the Queen鈥檚 favorite artist, and to this day museums and private collectors treasure his works.
But the amusing little dogatelle related here begins not in Victoria鈥檚 British Empire but in the Macedonian empire built in the fourth century b.c. by Alexander the Great. Plutarch, the foremost biographer of antiquity, provides the background:
鈥淭he Greeks assembled at the Isthmus and voted to send an expedition under Alexander against Persia, and proclaimed him their leader. Many officials and philosophers came to greet him, and he expected that Diogenes would do the same. But Diogenes paid not the least attention to Alexander and went on enjoying his leisure.鈥�
鈥淪o Alexander went to him and found him lying stretched out on the ground, sunning himself. At the approach of so many people, he sat up a little and turned his gaze on Alexander. Alexander greeted him and asked him if he wanted anything. Diogenes replied, 鈥榊es, Move over a little鈥攜ou鈥檙e blocking my sun.鈥� 鈥�
鈥淎t this answer, they say, Alexander was so surprised and admired so much the arrogant greatness of the man who had scorned him, that as they went away, he said to his companions who were laughing at him, 鈥楴evertheless, if I were not Alexander I would be Diogenes.鈥� 鈥�
This encounter between the world鈥檚 most powerful man and an eccentric but fearless philosopher has inspired artists for centuries. Dozens of painters have immortalized it on canvas, but none so whimsically as Landseer. Landseer鈥檚 take on 鈥淎lexander and Diogenes鈥� echoes Old Master depictions of the famous meeting down to such fine detail as the overturned tub in which the unworldly Diogenes lived. Among many traditional renderings of the theme that could have inspired Landseer is the one seen here, by the 15th-century Flemish master Caspar de Crayer.
鈥淧robably Landseer meant his picture to call attention to the vanities of human nature, and to make us smile at them,鈥� wrote an art critic a generation after Landseer鈥檚 death. 鈥淭he expressions on the faces of these dogs are almost human, so well do they tell their story.鈥�
There鈥檚 more to Landseer鈥檚 visual joke. Diogenes was described by contemporaries as 鈥渄oggish鈥� because of his honesty and a complete indifference to worldly possessions and pretence鈥攖o say nothing of his habit of casually urinating in public. His goal was to live a fully unencumbered life, like a dog, and he would own no more than he could beg from passersby. (An ancient tale has it that upon seeing a little boy drinking water from his hands, Diogenes threw away his cup and said ruefully, 鈥淎 child has bested me at plain living.鈥�)
Because of this, Diogenes earned the nickname 鈥淜ynos,鈥� the Greek word for 鈥渄og.鈥� The English translation of Kynos is 鈥渃ynic,鈥� and the philosophy preached by Diogenes became known as 鈥淐ynicism鈥� and its practitioners 鈥淐ynics.鈥� From the name Cynic we get the word 鈥渃ynical鈥� (鈥渁lways questioning鈥�), and it is also the Greek root for such canine words as 鈥渃ynology,鈥� meaning the scientific study of dogs, and 鈥渃ynophilist,鈥� a fancy word for 鈥渄og lover.鈥�
Diogenes was something of a pest and an eyesore in his hometown of Sinope, and being called a dog by his fellow citizens was not meant as a compliment. But he was proud to be known as 鈥淭he Dog.鈥� He considered dogs superior to the vain, acquisitive human race. Like a dog, Diogenes said, 鈥淚 fawn on those who give me anything, I bark at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals.鈥�
Art: 鈥淎lexander and Diogenes鈥�/蜜桃视频 Collection; De Crayer/Wikimedia Commons