Details
ÉCOLE ROMAINE DU XVIIe SIÈCLE
Portrait d'un homme tenant un miroir, probablement Chilon de Sparte (6e siècle av. J-C.)
huile sur toile
67,6 x 54,1 cm (2623 x 2113 in.)
FURTHER DETAILS
ROMAN SCHOOL 17th CENTURY, PORTRAIT OF A MAN HOLDING A MIRROR, PROBABLY CHILON OF SPARTA (6th CENTURY BC), OIL ON CANVAS

This mysterious portrait of a man with a mirror is probably a representation of Chilon of Sparta (6th century BC), a Lacedaemonian legislator counted among the Seven Sages of ancient Greece, whose maxim 'Know thyself', inscribed on the pediment of the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, is one of the most celebrated of Greek Antiquity. The idea that Knowledge is conditional upon self-knowledge is given material form by the famous mirror carried by the sitter in our painting, an object that invites every person to look themselves in the face, to examine themselves without illusion.
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Lot Essay

Ce mystérieux portrait d'un homme au miroir est probablement une représentation de Chilon de Sparte (6e siècle av. J.-C.), législateur lacédémonien compté parmi les Sept Sages de la Grèce antique dont la locution 'Connais-toi toi-même', inscrite au fronton du sanctuaire d'Apollon à Delphes, est l'une des plus fameuses de l'Antiquité grecque. L'idée selon laquelle la Connaissance est conditionnée par la connaissance de soi est matérialisée par ce fameux miroir que porte le modèle de notre tableau, objet qui invite toute personne à se regarder en face, à s'examiner sans illusion.

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