William Tyler RA

Cyril Humphris, London;

his sale, Sotheby's, New York, 10-11 January 1995, lot 74

I. Roscoe, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851, New Haven and London, 2009, p. 1269, no. 72

This fine terracotta relief depicts the scene of Alexander the Great meeting the cynic philosopher Diogenes in Corinth, a popular literary and artistic subject. Diogenes is depicted seated in the centre of the relief, flanked by two women. The relief is framed by trees on either side and a temple is faintly carved on the background. Two hooded elderly men stand behind the woman on the right side of the relief, while Alexander stands to the left with his horse. 

William Tyler was trained by the prominent Rococo sculptor Louis-François Roubiliac (1702–1762). He was a director of the Society of Artists and a founding member of the Royal Academy in London, exhibiting regularly in both institutions.