Painted Stoa

The Stoa Poikile, the Painted Porch, stood on the north side of the Athenian Agora. Its walls carried painted scenes by the best artists of the day, and around 300 BC a merchant named Zeno began teaching under its columns. His followers took their name from the place: the Stoics. Painted Stoa brings that porch home. Each design sets a line from the old philosophers (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Plato and others) or a piece of classical art in ink on warm ivory, inside an engraved-style frame. The words come from public-domain translations and are checked against the published text before they go on anything. The art comes from museum open-access collections or is drawn for the design. Two shelves to start: Stoic Words, for the quotes, and Classical Art, for the paintings and emblems. New designs are added as they're finished.