Democritus and Heraclitus

This engraving by the Haarlem humanist was made after Maerten van Heemskerck. In the print, the two philosophers stand in a ‘world landscape’ with, between them, a translucent orb draped with a foolscap. At top centre, flanked by putti holding hourglasses and resting on skulls, a plaque bears the legend REMPUS RIDENDI TEMPUS FLENDI (A time to laugh and a time to weep). Democritus (c. 460 - c. 370 B.C.) and Heraclitus (c. 540 - c. 475 B.C.) are known as the ‘laughing and crying philosophers.’