This bearded old man in tears is a representation of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Considered as a misanthrope subject to melancholia, he became known as the ‘obscure’ or ‘weeping’ philosopher. In the 17th and 18th centuries, he was often paired, in contrast, with a representation of another Greek philosopher, Democritus, depicted younger and laughing.
Busts of philosophers became particularly popular in Venice during the second half of the 17th century, as demonstrated by the recurring presence of this type of subjects in palaces inventories of the time and by the number of works that have survived. The images of philosophers represented introspective thinking and invited the viewers to reflect on the meaning and fragility of life, in a similar manner as the depiction of Vanitas. Among the various philosophers represented, not all identifiable, the Heraclitus and Democritus pairing became most frequent and of clearer moralising intent: one crying, the other one laughing at the vanity of the human condition (see Guerrieri 2002, pp. 82-88).
One of the earliest sets is the Heraclitus/Democritus pair carved by Michele Fabris (c. 1644-c. 1684) and Giusto Le Court (1627-1679), formerly at Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice and now in the Museo de Arte in Ponce, Puerto Rico. This pair formed a prototype followed by other artists such as Giacomo Piazzetta, Melchior Barthel, Giovanni Toschini, Giuseppe Torretti.
Many of the Venetian philosopher busts were often attributed to Orazio Marinali, one of the most renown sculptors of those days. This pair had however remained anonymous until it was convincingly attributed to Alvise Tagliapietra (1670-1747) by Simone Guerriero (2002). The context of their commission remains unknown.