Diogenes [from 'The School of Athens']

A facsimile of a drawing attributed on plate to Giorgio Vasari when in the collection of Mr Praun in Nuremberg. The lettered inscription, including printmaker's name and date of execution: 1779, was cut off and pasted below image. Published in Johann Gottlieb Prestel, 'Dessins des meilleurs Peintres d'Italie, d'Allemagne, et des Pays-Bas, du Cabinet de Monsieur Paul de Praun à Nuremberg', 1780, plate 14. The drawing reproduced in this print appears to be a copy after the figure of the philosopher reclining on the stairs with a cup by his side in Raphael's 'School of Athens'. Following Vasari's account of the fresco, this figure is usually identified as the Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic (Diogenes of Sinope).