Diogenes with his Lantern
Gioacchino Assereto (Genoa 1600 - Genoa 1649)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1620 - 1649
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1143 x 1626 mm (45 x 64 in)
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 108830
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Diogenes with his Lantern by Gioacchino Assereto (Genoa 1600 - Genoa 1649). The picture depicts Diogenes with his lantern semi-clad, staff in his right hand, five figures to his right. The Cynic philosopher Diogenes, who lived in Athens during 4th century BC is reputed to have gone out with a lighted lantern in broad daylight. When asked why, he explained that he was looking for an honest man, but the search was just as futile. Formerly attributed to Luca Giordano, this picture is prominently situated over the chimneypiece at Kedleston Hall under the real Giordano in one of Stuart's watercolours of his proposed State Room.
Provenance
Bought with part of the contents of Kedleston with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) in 1987 when the house and park were given to the National Trust by Francis Curzon, 3rd Viscount Scarsdale (1924-2000)
Credit line
Kedleston Hall, The Scarsdale Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1987)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: Inscribed in ink on back of piece of new wood inserted into frame: '(1) / Diogenes' Verso: Inscribed in pencil on a similar piece of wood inserted into frame: Over Fireplace
Makers and roles
Gioacchino Assereto (Genoa 1600 - Genoa 1649), publisher previously catalogued as attributed to Luca Giordano (Naples 1632 – Naples 1705), publisher
References
Seymour, 1766 Lady Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Northumberland (1716-1776), Notes on a visit to Kedleston in 1766 Kedleston Hall, 1769 Catalogue of the Pictures, Statues &c at Kedleston, 1769, p.7, 1770 p.7 Young 1771 Arthur Young, The Farmer’s Tour through the East of England. Being The Register of a Journey through various Counties of this Kingdom, to enquire into the State of Agriculture, &c. 4 vols. London, 1771, vol.I, p. 197: Pilkington, James view of the present state of Derbyshire; M,DCC,LXXXIX [1789]., Vol II, p. 122 Harris 1978 Leslie Harris, 'The Picture Collection at Kedleston Hall', The Connoisseur, July 1978, vol.198, no.79, pp. 208- 218 , p. 208 Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, 1988 [The National Trust], 1988 , 133