Striking Portraits of Great Rulers

These are picked by no special criteria except that I like them. The portraits, that is, not the cruel despots. Above, Akbar the Great, third Mughal ruler of India.

Henry VIII, c. 1540, by Hans Holbein. Of all the rotten kings in history I find him the most despicable, but what an image this is. Human girth as a symbol of majesty.

The Kangxi Emperor, 1662-1722.

Scipio Africanus, who received that name after the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. I know, not really a ruler, but more powerful than most kings and many emperors. And what an amazing image.

Charles the Bold of Burgundy by Rogier van der Weyden, 1460.

Mehmed the Conqueror, 1444-1481. I prefer this portrait, ascribed to a "follower" of Gentile Bellini, to the more famous one by his boss.

Napoleon Crossing the Alps, detail, by Jacques Louis David, 1801.

Elizabeth I.

Minamoto Yoritimo, Shogun, 1192-1199.

Trajan.

Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Renaissance copy of a portrait by Titian.

The Dowager Empress Cixi, last great emperor of China.