Image number: RS.9343
Credit: © The Royal Society
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Portrait of Humphry Davy
Date
ca. 1821
Sitter
Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829, British), Chemist
Creator
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830, British), Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 1424mm
width (painting): 1115mm
width (painting): 1115mm
Subject
Description
Davy is portrayed at three quarter length in fashionable Regency dress. He wears a high white stock and white waistcoat with a black jacket and matching overcoat, the latter open to reveal a silk lining. He wears grey trousers with a blue ribbon at the waist and kidskin gloves. The left arm is crooked to the waist, the right rests on a red cloth-lined table, upon which rests a miner’s safety lamp to Davy’s design. A deep turquoise-blue sky is balanced by a rich red cloth to Davy’s left side; the two colours separated by an architectural pillar.
Humphry Davy was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1803, he served as its President from 1820 to 1827.
Humphry Davy was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1803, he served as its President from 1820 to 1827.
Transcription
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY (1778-1829) SECRETARY 1807-12. PRESIDENT 1820-7. By SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE
Object history
Lady Jane Davy (née Kerr), Davy's wife, commisioned this portrait and later presented it to the Society in 1829. Her presentation letter reads as follows:
“Being so fortunate as to possess an invaluable little picture of Sir Humphry, I feel enabled to resign the only Portrait of him by his celebrated friend the President of the Royal Academy...The Picture is at Sir Thomas Lawrence’s in Russell Square & he knows my present resolution...“, Royal Society Miscellaneous Correspondence, MC/1/175, Jane Davy, Park Street, 3 November 1829, to [President of the Royal Society].
Jane Davy's wealth was inherited from her father, Charles Kerr of Antigua, who bequeathed his property, which included enslaved peoples, to his wife and daughter in equal halves.
“Being so fortunate as to possess an invaluable little picture of Sir Humphry, I feel enabled to resign the only Portrait of him by his celebrated friend the President of the Royal Academy...The Picture is at Sir Thomas Lawrence’s in Russell Square & he knows my present resolution...“, Royal Society Miscellaneous Correspondence, MC/1/175, Jane Davy, Park Street, 3 November 1829, to [President of the Royal Society].
Jane Davy's wealth was inherited from her father, Charles Kerr of Antigua, who bequeathed his property, which included enslaved peoples, to his wife and daughter in equal halves.