Democritus, Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1628
The Greek philosophers Democritus and Heraclitus are considered to be each other's opposites. Next to the old, deeply sad Heraclitus (the painting on the right), Democritus appears as a young bon vivant. He points in the distance, as if that's where the foolish world is. Together, the paintings have a moralising message: whether you cry or laugh, the world remains incorrigibly stupid.
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