Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9284
Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.
Portrait of Edmond Halley
Date
ca. 1690
Sitter
Edmond Halley (1656 - 1742, British) , Astronomer
Creator
Thomas Murray (1663 - 1735, British) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 765mm
width (painting): 639mm
width (painting): 639mm
Subject
Description
Edmond Halley as a relatively young man, apparently in his thirties. The sitter is shown at half-length with long, dark naturally styled hair and has blue eyes. He is dressed in a loose brown robe with wide sleeves over a white shirt worn open at the neck. In his left hand he holds a sheet of paper upon which is drawn a diagram of an elliptical orbit.
Edmond Halley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1678.
Edmond Halley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1678.
Transcription
EDMUND HALLEIUS LL.D. GEOM. PROF. SAVIL. & R.S. SEC
EDMOND HALLEY (1656-1742) CLERK 1686-98 SECRETARY 1713-21 By THOMAS MURRAY.
EDMOND HALLEY (1656-1742) CLERK 1686-98 SECRETARY 1713-21 By THOMAS MURRAY.
Object history
Both of the Society’s pictures of Edmond Halley were in the Society’s collection by 1768, as noted by a contemporary visitor: [ “A list of original pictures at the Royal Society House. Communicated by a Connoisseur’, Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 38 (1768), pp. 62-3.]
The Royal Society agreed that the portrait of Edmund Halley by T Murray be lent to the Executive of the Edinburgh Internationl Exhibition of 1886. Indicated in a letter from Herbert Rix, to the Secretary, Edinburgh International Exhibition, March 1886. NLB/1/90
The Royal Society agreed that the portrait of Edmund Halley by T Murray be lent to the Executive of the Edinburgh Internationl Exhibition of 1886. Indicated in a letter from Herbert Rix, to the Secretary, Edinburgh International Exhibition, March 1886. NLB/1/90
Associated place