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Primary sourcePainting1661

Thomas Hobbes Portrait by Jan Baptist Jaspers

Jan Baptist Jaspers · 1661

An oil portrait of an elderly Hobbes painted in 1661, owned by the Royal Society, which never admitted him as a fellow.

This portrait of Hobbes in old age is owned by the Royal Society, which notably never admitted him as a fellow.

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Oil portrait of an older man with thin gray hair and a high forehead, wearing a dark coat and a white lace collar, set within an oval frame against a dark background. He has a slight, closed-mouth expression and a mustache.
Jan Baptist Jaspers, Thomas Hobbes, 1661. Royal Society of London.

About this source

What it is

This oil portrait of Thomas Hobbes was painted by Jan Baptist Jaspers in 1661. It is held by the Royal Society of London.

Why it matters

The painting shows Hobbes late in life, and its ownership by the Royal Society is notable: the Society never admitted Hobbes as a fellow, despite his engagement with the scientific ideas of his day. This reflects his ambiguous and sometimes uneasy standing among the scientists and thinkers of seventeenth-century England.

Look closer

  • Why might an institution keep a portrait of someone it never admitted as a member?
  • What does Hobbes's expression and dress in this portrait suggest about how he wished to be seen?
  • What does this portrait's history tell us about Hobbes's relationship with the scientific community of his time?

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

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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

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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

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Portrait of Thomas Hobbes, Line Engraving

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The Elements of Law

Thomas Hobbes · 1640

Engraved title page reading 'The Workes of Homer Engl: by T: Hobbes', with a bust of Homer above, two armoured warriors with spears flanking the title, and an oval portrait of Hobbes below. Imprint reads London, printed for W. Crooke, 1677.Artifact

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Title Page of The Workes of Homer, Translated by Thomas Hobbes

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