David Hume
Date unknown
Medium
Stipple engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 12.5 × 10.5 cm (4 15/16 × 4 3/16 in.); Sheet: 26.7 × 18.8 cm (10 9/16 × 7 7/16 in.)
Classification
reproduction
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
274479
Art Historical Context
This stipple engraving the likeness of David Hume, the influential 18th-century Scottish philosopher whose writings shaped modern thought on empiricism, skepticism, and human nature. Created by British printmaker William Holl I, the work serves as a reproduction that helped circulate Hume’s image to a broader audience beyond the original painted portrait. Though the exact date remains unknown, such prints were common during Hume’s era and the decades following, reflecting the growing public interest in Enlightenment thinkers. Holl’s chosen medium of stipple engraving—built from countless tiny...