Pictures of Archimedes

Back to . . .

Below are some pictures of Archimedes from various sources.
All are fanciful representations; no true likeness of Archimedes has survived.

A copper engraving of Archimedes from a nineteenth-century book. A caption reads:

George Cooke fecit.
London, Publish'd by Vernor, Hood & Sharpe, Poultry, 1807.

Enlarged views:

   1200 dpi, 3200 x5400 pixels, 256 grayscales, 1933 kilobytes
   600 dpi, 1600 x 2700 pixels, 256 grayscales, 754 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 400 x 675 pixels, 256 grayscales, 91 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 200 x 320 pixels, 256 grayscales, 23 kilobytes

Detail of the above engraving.

Enlarged views:

   600 dpi, 1400 x 1700 pixels, 256 grayscales, 233 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 350 x 425 pixels, 256 grayscales, 91 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 175 x 212 pixels, 256 grayscales, 10 kilobytes

Profile of Archimedes from an antique engraving. This profile is based on an image from the title page of a collection of Archimedes' works edited by Joseph Torelli in 1792.

Enlarged views:

   1200 dpi, 3200 x 4400 pixels, black & white gif, 399 kilobytes
   600 dpi, 1600 x 2200 pixels, black & white gif, 146 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 400 x 550 pixels, 256 grayscales, 93 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 200 x 275 pixels, 256 grayscales, 25 kilobytes

Detail from the obverse of a silver medal dated 1826 commissioned by the New England Society for Promotion of Manufacturers and Mechanic Arts. The medal is 63.6 mm in diameter and the engraver was Christian Gobrecht (1785-1844), former chief engraver of the United States Mint. This profile was excised from a catalogue image on the web site of Stack’s Rare Coins.

Enlarged views:

   360 dpi, 450 x 660 pixels, color jpeg, 93 kilobytes
   180 dpi, 225 x 330 pixels, color jpeg, 40 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 94 x 138 pixels, color jpeg, 10 kilobytes

An embossed chromolithographic outer label for cigar boxes dating from 1895-1915. It measures 10.4 x 11.7 centimeters.

Enlarged views:

   600 dpi, 2560 x 2880 pixels, color jpeg, 1763 kilobytes
   300 dpi, 1280 x 1440 pixels, color jpeg, 522 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 640 x 720 pixels, color jpeg, 198 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 320 x 360 pixels, color jpeg, 56 kilobytes

Image from a postcard printed in the Soviet Union in 1957. The reverse contains a few remarks about Archimedes in Russian. The postcard measures 14.8 x 10.4 centimeters.

The image is based on a bust in the National Museum (Naples, Italy) widely claimed to represent Archimedes, but which is actually a bust of Archidamos III, a third-century BC king of Sparta.

Enlarged views:

   600 dpi, 2300 x 3050 pixels, color jpeg, 657 kilobytes
   300 dpi, 1150 x 1525 pixels, color jpeg, 280 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 575 x 762 pixels, color jpeg, 99 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 288 x 382 pixels, color jpeg, 33 kilobytes

This tobacco card included in packs of cigarettes was issued by Cigarette Oriental de Belgique in 1938. It is card 26 from a set of 100 cards entitled Famous Men through the Ages. The back of the card contains a brief biography of Archimedes in French and Dutch. It measures 6.0 x 8.8 centimeters.

Enlarged views:

   600 dpi, 1412 x 2080 pixels, color jpeg, 517 kilobytes
   300 dpi, 706 x 1040 pixels, color jpeg, 137 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 353 x 520 pixels, color jpeg, 57 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 177 x 260 pixels, color jpeg, 19 kilobytes

This card, issued in 1965, was included in packages of Jacques chocolates by Jacques Superchocolat of Belgium. It is from a set of 240 cards entitled “Collection De Chromos Instructifs” and measures 5.0 x 6.8 centimeters.

Enlarged views:

   600 dpi, 1170 x 1620 pixels, color jpeg, 498 kilobytes
   300 dpi, 585 x 810 pixels, color jpeg, 210 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 293 x 405 pixels, color jpeg, 67 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 146 x 202 pixels, color jpeg, 22 kilobytes

Detail of an 1892 engraving by M. Weber of a painting by the Italian artist Niccolò Barabino (1832-1891). The painting is now located in the Modern Art Gallery of the Revoltella Museum in Trieste, Italy.

A tissue guard containing a brief biography of Archimedes accompanied the engraving.

Enlarged views:

   600 dpi, 2210 x 2400 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 1137 kilobytes
   300 dpi, 1105 x 1200 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 385 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 553 x 600 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 96 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 276 x 300 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 26 kilobytes

Marble bust of Archimedes by the Sicilian sculptor Luciano Campisi (1859-1933). It is located in the Latomia dei Cappuccini (an ancient stone quarry in Syracuse, Italy, that is now a municipal garden).

Enlarged views:

600 x 800 pixels,
300 x 400 pixels, color jpeg,
color jpeg, 146 kilobytes
53 kilobytes

Two views of the bust in its setting:
600 x 1700,
2000 x 700, color jpeg,
color jpeg, 518 kilobytes
707 kilobytes

Statue of Archimedes by the Sicilian sculptor Giuseppe Villa (c. 1870). It is located in the lobby of the Liceo Scientifico “Corbino” (a scientific high school in Syracuse, Italy, named after the Italian physicist Orso Mario Corbino).

Enlarged views:

600 x 930 pixels,
300 x 465 pixels, color jpeg,
color jpeg, 136 kilobytes
56 kilobytes

Two other views of the statue:
780 x 1750 pixels,
1200 x 2000 pixels, color jpeg,
color jpeg, 396 kilobytes
912 kilobytes

A 1740 engraving of Archimedes planning the defenses of Syracuse. The Greek writing on his cap is

(Archimedes the geometer).

Enlarged views:

   600 dpi, 2800 x 3440 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 3132 kilobytes
   300 dpi, 1400 x 1720 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 1226 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 700 x 860 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 317 kilobytes
   75 dpi, 350 x 430 pixels, 256 grayscales jpeg, 101 kilobytes

Antique engraving of an apocryphal coin depicting Archimedes.

Enlarged views:

   1200 dpi, 1200 x 1200 pixels, black & white gif, 31 kilobytes
   600 dpi, 600 x 600 pixels, black & white gif, 12 kilobytes
   300 dpi, 300 x 300 pixels, black & white gif, 5 kilobytes
   150 dpi, 150 x 150 pixels, 256 grayscales gif, 10 kilobytes

Engraving from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology.

The print artist was Charles Paul Landon (1760-1826) and the graphic measures 11.2 x 7.8 centimeters.

Go to the web site of the Dibner Library for an enlarged view of this engraving (601 x 1000 pixels, 180 kilobytes).

Oil painting of Archimedes by the Italian artist Domenico Fetti (1589-1624). It was painted about 1620 and measures 98 x 73.5 centimeters. It is now located in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Dresden, Germany).

Enlarged View:

1364 x 1818 pixels, color jpeg, 585 kilobytes

An image with comments can be found at the web site of The Archimedes Project (524 x 631 pixels, 119 kilobytes).

Another image with comments can be found at the Web Gallery of Art (750 x 1007 pixels, 113 kilobytes).

Oil painting of Archimedes by the Spanish artist Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652). It was painted in 1630 and measures 125 x 81 centimeters. It is now located in the Museo del Prado (Madrid, Spain).

Enlarged Views:

352 x 480 pixels,
1457 x 1985 pixels, color jpeg,
color jpeg, 30 kilobytes
269 kilobytes

An image with comments can be found at the Web Gallery of Art (578 x 928 pixels, 83 kilobytes).

Oil painting of Archimedes by the Italian artist Giuseppe Nogari (1699-1766). It measures 44 x 55 centimeters and is located in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia).

Enlarged View:

450 x 551 pixels, color jpeg, 26 kilobytes

Oil painting of Archimedes by the Sicilian artist Giuseppe Patania (1780-1852). It is now located in the portrait gallery of the Biblioteca Comunale (Palermo, Italy).

Enlarged Views:

300 x 377 pixels,
599 x 754 pixels,
1198 x 1508 pixels,
2396 x 3016 pixels, color jpeg,
color jpeg,
color jpeg,
color jpeg, 66 kilobytes
275 kilobytes
810 kilobytes
1863 kilobytes

Oil painting of Archimedes(?) by the English portrait artist Henry Wyatt (1794-1840). It was exhibited in 1832 and measures 759 x 625 millimeters. It is now located in the Tate Britain Museum (London, England).

A larger image (421 x 512 pixels, 16 kilobytes) is available at the Tate web site.