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Secondary sourcePainting1589

Leonardo da Vinci woodcut portrait by Tobias Stimmer

T. Stimmer · 1589

A 1589 woodcut portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, made decades after his death from a supposed likeness.

A posthumous woodcut portrait showing Leonardo da Vinci's early reputation as a celebrated Florentine painter.

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Woodcut print of a bearded old man in profile facing left, with long hair and a flowing beard, within an ornate border. Above is the inscription 'LEONARDUS VINTIVS FLORENT. PICTOR' and below is a Latin verse with 'VAL. THILO L.' and 'ANDREAS'. The paper is aged and torn at the edges, with handwritten '3062.4' at lower left.
T. Stimmer, woodcut portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, 1589. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This woodcut print shows a bearded old man in profile, with long hair and flowing beard, set inside a decorative border with Latin text. It was made in 1589 by T. Stimmer, based on what was believed to be Leonardo da Vinci's likeness. It is held by the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

Made about seventy years after Leonardo died, this print shows how his reputation as a great artist and thinker had already spread across Europe. The inscription names him as a painter from Florence, showing how he was remembered and honored in print long after his lifetime.

Look closer

  • What words and symbols in the border tell us how the printmaker wanted viewers to see Leonardo?
  • Why might people in the 1500s still want portraits of someone who died decades earlier?
  • How reliable do you think this image is as evidence of Leonardo's real appearance?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Leonardo da Vinci on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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