Chilon, Spartan Philosopher and Councilor
The philosopher Chilon seems ready to burst out of the frame in this in this startling portrait by Jan Muller. He holds a convex mirror in his massive hands, crowding the picture plane, and turns his head slightly away as he looks out at the viewer. Chilon was a philosopher and councilor in the city-state of Sparta and one of the Seven Sages of Greece – seven philosophers, statesmen and lawgivers who were known for their wisdom in the early sixth century BCE. Muller has made him into a grotesque figure, using a dramatically swelling and tapering line, to emphasize the warts on his face and his wildly curling hair. His mirror embodies his motto, "know thyself," a phrase repeated in Greek and Latin in the inscriptions on the oval frame.
Three years earlier, in 1593, Muller had engraved a portrait of the Harpocrates, the god of silence (accession no. 51.501.6334), also slightly larger than life and in an oval frame. He most probably intended the two engravings as a pair, or as the first two prints in a never completed series of portraits from antiquity. In style and subject matter, Harpocrates and Chilon derive from "fantasy portraits" by Hendrick Goltzius – the foremost Mannerist printmaker, to whom Muller may have been apprenticed -- and his school. They were pen drawings of historical or mythological figures, rendered in bold strokes mimicking the swelling and tapering lines of engravings. Here Muller has taken this mannerist predilection for blurring the lines between different media a step further, by creating engravings that emulate drawings that imitate engravings.
Three years earlier, in 1593, Muller had engraved a portrait of the Harpocrates, the god of silence (accession no. 51.501.6334), also slightly larger than life and in an oval frame. He most probably intended the two engravings as a pair, or as the first two prints in a never completed series of portraits from antiquity. In style and subject matter, Harpocrates and Chilon derive from "fantasy portraits" by Hendrick Goltzius – the foremost Mannerist printmaker, to whom Muller may have been apprenticed -- and his school. They were pen drawings of historical or mythological figures, rendered in bold strokes mimicking the swelling and tapering lines of engravings. Here Muller has taken this mannerist predilection for blurring the lines between different media a step further, by creating engravings that emulate drawings that imitate engravings.
Artwork Details
- Title: Chilon, Spartan Philosopher and Councilor
- Artist: Jan Muller (Netherlandish, Amsterdam 1571–1628 Amsterdam)
- Publisher: Harmen Jansz. Muller (Netherlandish, Amsterdam ca. 1540–1617 Amsterdam)
- Date: 1596
- Medium: Engraving; New Holl.'s second state of three
- Dimensions: Sheet: 18 7/8 × 14 3/16 in. (47.9 × 36 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
- Object Number: 51.501.6335
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Jan Muller
Lucas van Leyden
n.d.
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
1593
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
ca. 1600
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
1591
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
ca. 1591
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.