The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Portrait of Thomas Hobbes

Portrait of Thomas Hobbes

c. 1660
(British, 1608/09–1672)
England, 17th century
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 Edward B. Greene Collection 1949.548
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

A replica of Cleveland’s miniature was painted by Lady Margaret Bingham, Countess of Lucan.

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 Leviathan, 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.
  • c. 1660-72
    Samuel Cooper (1608/09-1672), promised by the artist to John Aubrey (1626–1697, England) but never changed hands; by inheritance to his wife, Christiana Cooper
    1672-c.1693
    Christiana Cooper (née Turner, 1623–1693)
    By 1970-
    William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (1748–1811)
    March 1932
    (Sale: Christie, Manson & Woods, London, March 1932).
    (Leo Schidlof (1886-1966), Paris, France, sold to Edward B. Greene)
    -1949
    Edward B. Greene (1878-1957), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1949-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Fagan, Louis. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Engraved Works of William Faithorne. London: B. Quaritch, 1888. pp. 41–42, no. 112
    Foster, J. J. A List, 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. London: Dickinsons, 1914. p. 44
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Portrait Miniatures: The Edward B. Greene Collection. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951. Mentioned: p. 25, no. 4; Reproduced: plate XXIII archive.org
    Comstock, Helen. "The Edward B. Greene Collection on Miniatures." The Connoisseur 128 (October 1951): 138-140. Mentioned: p. 139
    Piper, David. The English Face. London, United Kingdom: Thames and Hudson, 1957. Reproduced: p. 118, fig. 53
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 464 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 127 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 127 archive.org
    Foskett, Daphne, and Samuel Cooper. Samuel Cooper and His Contemporaries. London. National Portrait Gallery. Catalogues. 1973-1974. London: H.M. Stationery Off.; distributed by Pendragon House, Palo Alto, 1974. Mentioned: cat. no. 83
    Foskett, Daphne. Samuel Cooper, 1609-1672. London, United Kingdom: Faber, 1974. Reproduced: p. 23, 43, 60, np. 55, fig. 55
    Houfe, Simon. "Prince of Limners." The Antique Collector 45, no. 3 (May 1974): 62-66. Mentioned: p. 33; reproduced: p. 66
    Reynolds, Graham. Samuel Cooper's Pocket-Book. [Victoria and Albert Museum Brochures, 1972-75]. London, United Kingdom: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1975. Reproduced: p. 5, pl. 7
    Gaunt, William. Court Painting in England from Tudor to Victorian Times. London, United Kingdom: Constable, 1980. Reproduced: p. 131
    Murdoch, John. The English Miniature. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981. Reproduced: p. 109
    Murdoch, John. The English Miniature. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.
    Norwich, John Julius. Britain's Heritage. London, United Kingdom: Granada, 1983. Reproduced: p. 183
    Hughes, Clair, and Haruhiko Fujii. English portraits. Tōkyō, Japan: Eihōsha, 1986. Reproduced: p. 29, fig. 8
    Reynolds, Graham. English Portrait Miniatures. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Reproduced: p. 59-60
    Wendorf, Richard. The Elements of Life: Biography and Portrait-Painting in Stuart and Georgian England. Oxford, United Kingdom: Clarendon Press, 1990. Reproduced: pl. 38
    Turner, Evan H. Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 116
    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. p. 281
    Bredekamp, Horst. Thomas Hobbes visuelle Strategien: der Leviathan: Urbild des modernen Staates ; Werkillustrationen und Portraits. Berlin, Germany: Akad.-Verl, 1999. Reproduced: p. 186
    Korkow, Cory, and Dario Robleto. Disembodied: Portrait Miniatures and Their Contemporary Relatives. 2013. Mentioned: p. 86
    Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. 2013. Cat.no. 17, pp. 94-97
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 196-197
  • Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 10, 2013-February 16, 2014).
    Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 202), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 22, 2008 - January 5, 2009).
    Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-October 17, 1993).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    Samuel Cooper and His Contemporaries. National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (February 6-May 12, 1974).
    The World of Miniature Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 20-November 10, 1953).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Thomas Hobbes|url=false|author=Samuel Cooper|year=c. 1660|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.548