![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The work concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social. Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan. It well illustrates Hobbes’s theory that, “A multitude of men, are made one person, when they are by one man, or one person, represented so that it be done with the consent of every one of that multitude in particular” (Hobbes, Leviathan, I.16.13). Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil is a book written by Thomas Hobbes and published in 1651. One discovers, in this image, the notion of Sovereign Authority as an Artificial Person built up from the consent of the multitude of Natural Persons. In the grand center is the figure of the Sovereign King, whose body is both literally and figuratively constituted by the blurring-together individual bodies of the citizenry, the co- signers of the social contract, who face away from the viewer and towards the Sovereign. This iconic image offers multiple representations that provide the viewer with access to many of the core themes of the Leviathan: At the bottom are juxtaposed competing, or perhaps balancing, sources of Sovereign Authority-images of Ecclesiastical Authority (on the right) and Human/Temporal Authority (on the left). The famous frontispiece of Hobbes’s Leviathan was inspired by the anamorphic art form, which originated during the Renaissance and remained popular during Hobbes’s lifetime in the 17th century. Frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, by Abraham Bosse, with creative input from Thomas Hobbes, 1651 ![]()
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