Portrait of Francis Baily
Date
ca.1838
Sitter
Francis Baily (1774 - 1844, British) , Astronomer, Astronomer
Creator
Thomas Goff Lupton (1791 - 1873, British) , Engraver
After
Thomas Phillips (1770 - 1845, British) , Painter
Object type
Image reference
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 440mm
width (print): 350mm
width (print): 350mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Three quarter length portrait of Francis Baily looking directly at the viewer, wearing a white shirt, a black cravat, waistcoat and dinner jacket. He rests a pair of glasses upon a table covered in books, among which is a copy of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The paper beneath his hand reads ‘Pendulum experiments’, possibly in reference to his completion of Henry Forster’s FRS (1797-1831) pendulum experiments, deducing from them an ellipticity for the Earth of 1/289.48.
Signed in the bottom right corner by Baily: ‘Francis Baily
President of the Roy: Ast: Soc’
Inscribed below: ‘PAINTED BY THOMAS PHILLIPS R.A. From the Picture painted for the Royal Astronomical Society. ENGRAVED BY THOMAS LUPTON of Keppel Street, Russell Square
FRANCIS BAILY ESQ.R D.C.L. OC & DUB. […]’
Francis Baily (1774-1844) British stockbroker and astronomer was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1821. By this point Baily had already, in 1820, co-founded the Royal Astronomical Society and applied his tabular and calculating skills in revising a number of important star catalogues.
Signed in the bottom right corner by Baily: ‘Francis Baily
President of the Roy: Ast: Soc’
Inscribed below: ‘PAINTED BY THOMAS PHILLIPS R.A. From the Picture painted for the Royal Astronomical Society. ENGRAVED BY THOMAS LUPTON of Keppel Street, Russell Square
FRANCIS BAILY ESQ.R D.C.L. OC & DUB. […]’
Francis Baily (1774-1844) British stockbroker and astronomer was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1821. By this point Baily had already, in 1820, co-founded the Royal Astronomical Society and applied his tabular and calculating skills in revising a number of important star catalogues.
Object history
Original Phillips portrait commissioned by the Royal Astronomical Society in 1838.
Associated place