Skip to main content

Democritus: P.570-1985

An image of Print

Terms of use

The low-resolution images published on this Website are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY-NC-ND). For more details: Fitzwilliam Terms of Use

This licence does not include any images of works that are still in copyright. Artistic copyright extends from the life of the artist to 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the artist died.

Download this image

For further information on use of images or to license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who can discuss terms and fees.

Alternative views

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Democritus

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Blake, William
Draughtsman: Rubens, Peter Paul (After)

Entities

Categories

Legal notes

Allocated by H.M. Treasury through the Minister of the Arts, accepted in lieu of capital taxes

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1985-04) by Keynes, Geoffrey

Dating

1780s
Production date: AD 1789

Note

Illustration to Essays on physiognomy, Designed to promote the Knowledge and the Love of Mankind, by John Caspar Lavater, London: Printed for John Murray, No. 32, Fleet-Street, 1789

School or Style

British

People, subjects and objects depicted

Materials used in production

Black carbon ink

Components of the work

Support composed of paper
Plate Height 273 mm Width 226 mm
Sheet Height 330 mm Width 280 mm

Techniques used in production

Engraving

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: DEMOCRITUS.
  • Location: Plate lower centre
  • Method of creation: Printed
  • Type: Title
  • Text: Rubens delin.
  • Location: Plate lower left
  • Method of creation: Printed
  • Type: Signature
  • Text: Blake sculp.
  • Location: Plate lower right
  • Method of creation: Printed
  • Type: Signature

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.570-1985
Primary reference Number: 31762
Bentley: 481.2
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 15 October 2025 Last processed: Wednesday 15 October 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Democritus" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31762 Accessed: 2025-12-07 07:17:37

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31762 |title=Democritus |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-07 07:17:37|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-31762

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp51/P_570_1985.jpg"
        alt="Democritus"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Democritus</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...