Writers leave behind the tales of our past so that future generations have a beginning to start from that isn’t the very beginning. A gifted writer can fill our senses with anticipation within a few short words. Philosophers remind us there is something greater than the voices in our head. This Philosophers Writers Poets Collection illustrates the portraits of great thinkers through history. Which famous writer changed your perception of the world?
Homer As the author of the Odyssey–the first great piece of literature in the Western tradition–Homer is believed to have been a blind poet who lived around 750 BC and originated from the Greek island of Chios.
Socrates The Greek 5th-century philosopher Socrates (469-399 BC) sought genuine knowledge rather than mere victory over an opponent; Socrates employed the arguments of logic towards a new purpose, the pursuit of truth. His willingness to call everything into question and his determination to accept nothing less than an adequate account of the nature of things make him the first clear exponent of critical philosophy. For his innovative approach, Socrates was tried for “impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens.”
Aristotle 384-322 BC
“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms. Education is an ornament in prosperity and are refuge in adversity. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Fear is pain from the anticipation of evil.”
Voltaire (1694-1778) had a strong influence on the political life in Europe during the time of the Enlightenment not only as a result of his publications, but also because of his close contact to some of the reigning monarchs.
Shakespeare penned the dramatic stories, plays, and poems that would become timeless classics. His masterpieces transcend into the human soul, as they can be found today, hundreds of years after his death around the globe. Can you imagine literature without Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, The Tempest or The Taming of the Shrew, just to name a few?
Philosophizing Monkey (Monkey Holding Skull / Darwin’s Mistake) adapted after an original by Hugo Rheinhold Who came from whom? Adapted after an original sculpted by Hugo Rheinhold and first publicly exhibited in 1893 at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition, this sculpture both amuses and intrigues. As the chimpanzee contemplates a human skull, he rests on a pile of books–one of which is by Darwin, the scientist whose theory about evolution is legendary. The sculpture has been mistakenly named Darwin’s Mistake through the years. According to a historian, there is no evidence that the sculptor was “overly critical of Darwin”.
Below are portrait statues of philosophers, writers and poet statues reproduced which we offer for sale in our museum store.. If you are looking for another great mind portrait, please let us know and we will research.
