Marchese Cesare Beccaria
1816
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1816
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This etching shows a man in a high-collared coat, his face half in shadow. The lines are soft, almost smudged, like pencil on rough paper. The subject is Cesare Beccaria, an Italian thinker who wrote *On Crimes and Punishments* in 1764. His book argued against torture and the death penalty—radical ideas at the time. The artist, Sasso, made this years after Beccaria died, so the face is imagined, not a real likeness. The stipple technique (tiny dots that build up tone) gives the portrait a quiet, thoughtful mood. To see how other artists portrayed reformers, look up the subject Cesare Beccaria.
