The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2023

Portrait of Thomas Hobbes

c. 1660

Samuel Cooper

(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

Fun Fact

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.

Provenance
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
Citations
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
Exhibition history

Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 202), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 22, 2008 - January 5, 2009).

The World of Miniature Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 20-November 10, 1953).

Samuel Cooper and His Contemporaries. National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (February 6-May 12, 1974).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-October 17, 1993).

Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 2013-February 16, 2014).

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