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Source Description
In his seventies when the portrait was painted, Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) is turned slightly to his left, his eyes directed at the spectator. He has thin gray hair extending to his collar and a gray mustache and goatee. Only his head is finished; a thin gray wash loosely describes a plain, flat collar. Hobbes was born in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. In spite of humble parentage, he rose to prominence as a brilliant linguist and author of the 1651 book <em>Leviathan</em>, a seminal work of social contract theory that advocated for government led by a strong sovereign. As a royalist he was forced to flee England when the civil war broke out in 1642, and he resided in France until the war’s end in 1651. He was a friend of Cooper, who painted his miniature on at least two occasions.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
127231
label
Portrait of Thomas Hobbes
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
127231
contentType
object
title
Portrait of Thomas Hobbes
description
In his seventies when the portrait was painted, Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) is turned slightly to his left, his eyes directed at the spectator. He has thin gray hair extending to his collar and a gray mustache and goatee. Only his head is finished; a thin gray wash loosely describes a plain, flat collar. Hobbes was born in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. In spite of humble parentage, he rose to prominence as a brilliant linguist and author of the 1651 book <em>Leviathan</em>, a seminal work of social contract theory that advocated for government led by a strong sovereign. As a royalist he was forced to flee England when the civil war broke out in 1642, and he resided in France until the war’s end in 1651. He was a friend of Cooper, who painted his miniature on at least two occasions.
date
c. 1660
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79907086
creators
3673
genreSpecific
Portrait Miniature
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Framed: 7.3 x 6.3 cm (2 7/8 x 2 1/2 in.); Sight: 6.7 x 5.8 cm (2 5/8 x 2 5/16 in.)
cul
England, 17th century
accession
1949.548
Source extras
tec
watercolor on vellum in a gilt metal frame
tombstone
Portrait of Thomas Hobbes, c. 1660. Samuel Cooper (British, 1608/09–1672). Watercolor on vellum in a gilt metal frame; framed: 7.3 x 6.3 cm (2 7/8 x 2 1/2 in.); sight: 6.7 x 5.8 cm (2 5/8 x 2 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Edward B. Greene Collection, 1949.548
collection
P - British before 1800
didYouKnow
A replica of Cleveland’s miniature was painted by Lady Margaret Bingham, Countess of Lucan.
citations
citation
Fagan, Louis. <em>A Descriptive Catalogue of the Engraved Works of William Faithorne</em>. London: B. Quaritch, 1888.
page_number
pp. 41–42, no. 112
citation
Foster, J. J. A List, <em>Alphabetically Arranged, of Works of English Miniature Painters of the XVII Century, With a Description of the Same, Names of the Owners and Remarks. Supplementary to Samuel Cooper & the English Miniature Painters of the XVII Century.</em> London: Dickinsons, 1914.
page_number
p. 44
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. Portrait Miniatures: <em>The Edward B. Greene Collection.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 25, no. 4; Reproduced: plate XXIII
citation
Comstock, Helen. "The Edward B. Greene Collection on Miniatures." <em>The Connoisseur </em>128 (October 1951): 138-140.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 139
citation
Piper, David. <em>The English Face</em>. London, United Kingdom: Thames and Hudson, 1957.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 118, fig. 53
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 464
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 127
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 127
citation
Foskett, Daphne, and Samuel Cooper. <em>Samuel Cooper and His Contemporaries</em>. London. National Portrait Gallery. Catalogues. 1973-1974. London: H.M. Stationery Off.; distributed by Pendragon House, Palo Alto, 1974.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 83
citation
Foskett, Daphne. <em>Samuel Cooper, 1609-1672</em>. London, United Kingdom: Faber, 1974.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 23, 43, 60, np. 55, fig. 55
citation
Houfe, Simon. "Prince of Limners." <em>The Antique Collector </em>45, no. 3 (May 1974): 62-66.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 33; reproduced: p. 66
citation
Reynolds, Graham. <em>Samuel Cooper's Pocket-Book</em>. [Victoria and Albert Museum Brochures, 1972-75]. London, United Kingdom: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1975.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 5, pl. 7
citation
Gaunt, William. <em>Court Painting in England from Tudor to Victorian Times</em>. London, United Kingdom: Constable, 1980.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 131
citation
Murdoch, John. <em>The English Miniature</em>. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 109
citation
Murdoch, John. <em>The English Miniature. </em>New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.
citation
Norwich, John Julius. <em>Britain's Heritage</em>. London, United Kingdom: Granada, 1983.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 183
citation
Hughes, Clair, and Haruhiko Fujii. <em>English portraits</em>. Tōkyō, Japan: Eihōsha, 1986.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 29, fig. 8
citation
Reynolds, Graham. <em>English Portrait Miniatures</em>. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 59-60
citation
Wendorf, Richard. <em>The Elements of Life: Biography and Portrait-Painting in Stuart and Georgian England</em>. Oxford, United Kingdom: Clarendon Press, 1990.
page_number
Reproduced: pl. 38
citation
Turner, Evan H. <em>Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum.</em> Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 116
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Alan Chong. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993.
page_number
p. 281
citation
Bredekamp, Horst. <em>Thomas Hobbes visuelle Strategien: der Leviathan: Urbild des modernen Staates ; Werkillustrationen und Portraits</em>. Berlin, Germany: Akad.-Verl, 1999.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 186
citation
Korkow, Cory, and Dario Robleto. <em>Disembodied: Portrait Miniatures and Their Contemporary Relatives. </em>2013.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 86
citation
Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. <em>British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. 2013.
page_number
Cat.no. 17, pp. 94-97
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 196-197
creditline
The Edward B. Greene Collection
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:33:28.849000
sourceId
127231
dept
European Painting and Sculpture
coll
P - British before 1800
med
watercolor on vellum in a gilt metal frame
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
941a3508fbd372e4