Young Friedrich Engels, portrait by Georg Wilhelm Feistkorn

What it is

This engraved profile portrait of a young Friedrich Engels was made by his friend Georg Wilhelm Feistkorn around 1840. It is now kept at the Engels-Haus and includes Engels's own signature beneath the image. It was first published by Gustav Mayer, a noted biographer of Engels, in 1920.

Why it matters

Made when Engels was still a young man, before he became known for his writings with Karl Marx, this portrait shows how he looked and presented himself in his youth, and demonstrates the personal friendships that surrounded him early in life.

Look closer

• What does the formal dress and pose suggest about Engels's social background at this time?
• Why might a friend, rather than a professional artist, have made this portrait?
• Why was this image not published until decades later, by a biographer?