Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli

What it is

This is an engraved portrait print of Niccolò Machiavelli dated 1807 and held by the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands. The image shows a man with short hair, wearing a dark high-collared gown with a lace tie, seen from the chest up against a dark hatched background. The printed title below reads NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI, and the margin notes that it was published in Florence in 1807. The catalogue title is in Dutch.

Why it matters

Machiavelli died in 1527, so this print was made about two centuries later. Portraits like this were produced for readers who wanted to picture the author of The Prince and the Discourses. The print shows how his reputation had grown into something worth illustrating, even though the engraver was working long after the man's own lifetime.

Look closer

• What clues in the print suggest that the artist was working from an earlier image rather than from life?
• Why might a publisher in 1807 want a portrait of Machiavelli on the page?
• What does a portrait tell you about a writer, and what does it not tell you?