The Four Philosophers

The Four Philosophers
Artist	Peter Paul Rubens
Year	1611-1612
Medium	oil on panel
Dimensions	167 cm × 143 cm (66 in × 56 in)
Location	Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy

The Four Philosophers is a 1611-12 painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It is now held in the Galleria Palatina of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. It also features in the 1772 painting The Tribuna of the Uffizi by Zoffany.

The painting is relevant to the philosophical movement of neostoicism, founded by Justus Lipsius, depicted in the painting with three of his students. Beginning from left to right it shows Peter Paul Rubens, Philip Rubens (the painter's brother, who died that year), Justus Lipsius, and Joannes Woverius. In the background is Peter Paul's bust of Seneca, now believed to be a copy of an imaginary Hellenistic portrait of the Greek poet Hesiod.

Bibliography[]

• Marco Chiarini, Galleria palatina e Appartamenti Reali, Sillabe, Livorno 1998. ISBN 978-88-86392-48-8