The Dying Seneca

During his years in Rome, Rubens was shown a battered antique statue of a gaunt old man, which collectors of the day were sure represented Seneca, the Roman philosopher, at the moment of his death. Rubens drew it from every side. Back home in Antwerp he built this painting out of those studies, giving the marble flesh and the composure the story asks for. The story is grim. Nero suspected his old tutor Seneca of plotting against him and ordered him to take his own life, which he did calmly, in keeping with the Stoic teaching he had spent his life on. The body still shows its marble origin in the pose. Later scholars decided the statue was never Seneca at all, but an old fisherman.