The Three Philosophers (Wise Men) (by Giorgione)

This design features a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Giorgione (1477–1510). It shows three philosophers: one young man, one middle-aged man and one old man. The three figures portrayed are allegorical: then old bearded man is possibly a Greek philosopher, the middle-aged man is a Persian or Arab philosopher and the seated young man may be a mathematician or geometer (because he looking towards a cave on the left of the scene, apparently measuring it with some scientific instruments). In the background is a village with some mountains, one of which has a distinctive blue area with an unknown significance. Since the end of the 19th century scholars and critics of art have rejected the previous view that the painting is a representation of the three Magi (i.e. the wise men) gathered in front of Jesus' grotto. Some scholars have claimed that the figures are typical representations for three stages of humanity (youth, middle and old age), three epochs of European civilization (Antiquity, Middle Age, Renaissance), the three Abrahamic religions or some other combination of such abstract conceptions. The artwork was first commissioned by the Venetian noble Taddeo Contarini, sometime between 1505 and 1509, a Venetian merchant with an interest in the occult and alchemy. It is now displayed at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the capital city of Austria.