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Secondary sourcePainting1881

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley Engraving

1881

An 1881 engraved portrait of Tilley published in Dent's Canadian Portrait Gallery, showing how he was presented to the public as finance minister.

This engraving depicts Tilley himself, showing his public image as finance minister in 1881.

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Engraved oval portrait of an older man with wavy hair, in profile facing right, wearing a dark suit jacket and white collar. Caption below reads: Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley.
Engraved portrait of Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, Dent's Canadian Portrait Gallery, 1881.

About this source

What it is

This is an engraved oval portrait of Samuel Leonard Tilley, made in 1881 for Dent's Canadian Portrait Gallery. It is from the Mechanical Curator collection, a large set of digitised images from old printed books.

Why it matters

The engraving shows how Tilley was presented to the Canadian public at the height of his career, while he was serving as finance minister. Portraits like this helped build the public image of political leaders in the 19th century.

Look closer

  • What does the formal pose and dress tell you about how Tilley wanted to be seen?
  • Why might an engraving, rather than a photograph, have been used in a book like this?
  • What does the image leave out about Tilley's actual work as finance minister?

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

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