David Hume’s work as a historian and philosopher made him internationally renowned. Despite the reputation he earned for tolerance and cosmopolitanism, Hume at times expressed views that were far from progressive. Writing in a famous essay Of National Characters, he expressed his belief that different human racial groups had different abilities, and claimed, notoriously, that Black Africans had an inferior status. This profile portrait was made by James Tassie in his fine enamel paste. Tassie made numerous images of famous contemporaries and clearly hoped that Hume’s international celebrity would help him sell many copies of this medallion both in Britain and abroad.