Primary sourcePaintingc. 1650

Portrait of Thomas Hobbes

Attributed to David Beck · c. 1650

An oil portrait of Thomas Hobbes, attributed to David Beck, painted during his lifetime around 1650.

This lifetime portrait shows Hobbes as his contemporaries would have seen him.

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Oil painting of an older man with long grey hair, a grey moustache and goatee, wearing a black garment with a white lace collar and a lace tassel at the neck. He gazes toward the viewer against a dark background with a warm brown area at right. — Attributed to David Beck, Portrait of Thomas Hobbes, c. 1650.

About this source

What it is

This is an oil painting of Thomas Hobbes, attributed to the artist David Beck, made around 1650 while Hobbes was still alive.

Why it matters

Because it was painted during Hobbes's own lifetime, it gives us an idea of how he appeared to his contemporaries at a point in his career, rather than an imagined later likeness.

Look closer

What does his clothing suggest about his status or profession?
What might the artist have wanted viewers to notice about his expression?
Why might a painting made in someone's lifetime be considered more reliable than one made later?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Hobbes 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 Hobbes's Leviathan: a giant crowned figure made of many tiny people holds a sword and crozier over a landscape of hills and a city. Below, a central banner bears the title and author's name, flanked by vignettes of castle, church, crown, mitre, cannon, weapons, battle, and a council.

Book

Primary source

Leviathan

Thomas Hobbes · 1651

Engraved frontispiece of the 1642 Paris edition of Hobbes's De Cive. Top panel shows a crowded scene of figures in clouds and a fiery landscape with a winged angel and a group of people. Bottom panel has a central banner titled Elementorum Philosophiae Sectio Tertia De Cive with Latin text, flanked by a crowned female figure holding scales labeled Imperium and a figure with a bow and spear labeled Libertas, with a landscape and the word Religio across the middle.

Book

Primary source

De Cive

Thomas Hobbes · 1642

Line engraving portrait of Thomas Hobbes, a man with long wavy hair, a large white collar, and dark robes, shown in an oval frame inscribed with his name in Latin. Below is a Latin inscription and the printer's line 'London, Printed for Will. Crooke'.

Painting

Secondary source