A short fringe and a flowing beard characterize this portrait of Plato (427-347 BC), the famous Athenian philosopher and disciple of Socrates who, in 387 BC, founded his school known as the "Academy" in Athens. On several occasions Plato went to Syracuse, a city that in his eyes was the ideal place to test out projects for the institutional transformations of the State. His political reform programmes, however, made him unpopular among tyrants.