“Dedicated to Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre, by his most obedient humble servant and subject Étienne Baudet.

In the foreground of this painting Poussin depicted the encounter between Diogenes and a young man drinking water from a stream with his cupped hand which induced the philosopher to throw his own cup on the ground, the one he was in the habit of drinking from and that he now considered useless. However, it seems here the painter applied himself with particular care to describing the landscape which gave a favorable idea of the surroundings of the city of Athens. On one side, we see the entrance to the city and on the other a few country cottages on the shores of a wide river; the scene is peopled with various inhabitants, some are swimming, others are handline fishing, several strolling or reclining, and the philosophers who are not far from Diogenes converse among themselves or with their disciples.”

(Translation from the French original inscription of the etching)