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Secondary sourcePainting

Portrait Engraving of Francis Bacon, Proof Impression

An undated proof engraving showing Francis Bacon in 17th-century dress, made after his lifetime to record his likeness.

This engraving depicts Bacon and helped shape how later generations pictured him as a statesman.

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Black and white engraving of a bearded man in 17th-century dress: a tall black hat, a large white lace ruff, and a dark cloak with patterned trim. He stands before a draped curtain with his right hand resting on a draped table.
Anonymous, Engraving: portrait of Francis Bacon, proof impression, undated. Wellcome Collection, United Kingdom.

About this source

What it is

This is a black and white engraving of Francis Bacon, Viscount St Albans, shown wearing a tall hat, a large lace ruff and a dark cloak. It is a proof impression, meaning an early print pulled to check the engraving before wider printing. The engraver is unknown and no date is recorded. It is held by the Wellcome Collection in the United Kingdom.

Why it matters

Portraits like this were made after Bacon's death to preserve and spread his image to later generations. They tell us how Bacon was remembered as a statesman and thinker, and how image-makers of later centuries chose to present him in formal dress with symbols of status.

Look closer

  • What details of clothing and setting suggest Bacon's rank and importance?
  • Since the engraver is unknown, what does that tell us about how portraits were copied and circulated?
  • What might this image leave out about Bacon's life or ideas?

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

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Engraved title page of Novum Organum Scientiarum by Francis Bacon, Leiden 1645, showing two classical columns, ships on the sea, and the Latin motto Multi pertransibunt & augebitur scientia.Book

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Title page of a 1696 London edition of Sir Francis Bacon's Essays, Or Councils, Civil and Moral, with a table of the colours of good and evil and a discourse on the wisdom of the ancients. Printed for H. Herringman, R. Scot, R. Chiswell, A. Swalle, and R. Bentley.Book

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Francis Bacon · 1597

Black and white engraved portrait of a bearded man with curly hair, wearing a wide-brimmed dark hat, a large white lace collar, and a dark embroidered doublet, against a shaded background. The caption below reads 'LORD BACON'.Painting

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Francis Bacon, Engraving by C. Cook after Houbraken

C. Cook after Jacobus Houbraken · 1738

Title page of New Atlantis, printed in old-style typeface: 'NEVV ATLANTIS. A Vvorke vnfinished. Vvritten by the Right Honourable, Francis Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban.' Below the text is a small ornate woodcut frame with a figure and a winged creature.Book

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New Atlantis

Francis Bacon · 1627

Engraved title page of a 1640 Oxford edition of Bacon's work. Two obelisks flank a central banner reading 'Of the Advancement and Proficience of Learning or the Partitions of Science'. Globes, a ship, owls, and Latin inscriptions appear, with the imprint 'Oxford, Printed by Leon Lichfield'.Book

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