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A philosopher and virtuoso seated in an armchair: dissatisfied with his accomplishments, he points to the need for charity to the poor. Engraving by C.F. Stoelzel, 1774, after J.E. Schenau, 1773. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
He is dressed in a banyan and rich robes and wears a soft hat: the costume is similar to that of oriental-type sages painted by Rembrandt. His chair and table are gilt and carved with Greco-Roman motifs. A sculpture and urns on the table are also in Greco-Roman style. On the floor are a globe, a sculpted bust, and a drinking vessel in the form of a goat's head. He points to a painting, left, of an intercession of an angel with a personification of religion on behalf of the poor, orphans, the hungry etc. According to Dassdorf, loc. cit., the painting shown on the left belonged to Schenau
On the table is a paper inscribed with the reference by Cicero to a wise man: "Sapientem dicimus plurimis et gravissimis artibus atque virtutibus instructum et ornatum -- Cic. De finib., L. II cap. 34", referring to Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum, book II, ch. 112. The argument is there made that, just as it would have been disproportionate if Xerxes had led the Persian army all the way to Greece solely to get honey from Mount Hymettus, so it would be equally absurd for a man to acquire wisdom, learning, and virtù solely for the sake of the pleasure it affords him. This explains why the sage points to the painting of religion and charity. Above the paper inscribed with the reference to Cicero is a scroll indistinctly inscribed, possibly "tod lerne taeglich", perhaps a quotation from Samuel Schmidt, Vollständiger Catechismus, in welchem denen Heyldurstigen aus der Lehr Christi Jesu als dem wahren Brunnen des Lebens, das Wasser ihres Heyls nach Genügen, und also heraus geschöpffet wird, Stadt am Hoff nachst Regenspurg: Johann Gastl, Buchhandler, 1748, p. 424 ("Betrachte täglich den Todt, gedencke täglich an das Sterben, und lerne täglich sterben"), or from a similar catechism
The print is an exemplum sui, since it was sold for the charitable purposes (the poor school at Friedrichstadt) extolled by the wise man in the picture. The engraver Christian Friedrich Stoelzel was himself an alumnus and beneficiary of that school
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