Alexander and Diogenes - Framed Canvas

2026-04-20T13:54:38+02:00

The most powerful man in the ancient world asks a philosopher living in a barrel: "What can I give you?"

The philosopher squints up at him. "Could you move? You're blocking my sun."

This is that moment. Alexander the Great, flanked by his armored entourage, paying a visit to Diogenes the Cynic. The man who had given up everything society considered worth wanting, and didn't miss any of it.

Painted in oil on canvas around 1803 by Pierre François Antoine de Goesin, after the 17th-century Flemish Baroque master Gaspar de Crayer. Now held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent.

The best comeback in recorded history. On your wall.