Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9570
Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.
Portrait of Ambrose Godfrey
Date
1718
Sitter
Ambrose Godfrey (1680 - 1756, British) , Chemist
Creator
George Vertue (1684 - 1756, British) , Printmaker
After
Johann Rudolf Schmutz (1670 - 1715, Swiss) , Artist
Object type
Image reference
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 260mm
width (print): 188mm
width (print): 188mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Head and shoulders portrait in the style of a sculpture bust. Godfrey is shown surrounded by chemical equipment including a furnace (left, inscribed: “Ignis adest apifex perfecit Arte Manus.”) and retorts (right, inscribed: “Natura inpura dat Rectificatio mundat”). At the pedestal to the bust is a container of phosphorus (inscribed: “ Phosphor: urens igne suo.”). Below that is a landscape vignette in which a snake and a hart appear in woodland. To the right, two men are mining in a hillside, while in the centre a phoenix bursts from the ground (inscribed: “Naturae regna instar Phoenicis per ignem reviviscunt”) .
Additionally inscribed: “Hac Amicitiae tessera Fautorib, valedicit Peregri natures Ambros: Godfrey Hanckwitz Chym: ad Phoenice Londini. R.Schmutz pinxit. Geo: Vertue Sculp: 1718.” In pencil lower left “1729” and lower right “1/6”.
Ambrose Godfrey the younger [sometimes referred to as Ambrose Godfrey Hanckwitz] was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1729.
Additionally inscribed: “Hac Amicitiae tessera Fautorib, valedicit Peregri natures Ambros: Godfrey Hanckwitz Chym: ad Phoenice Londini. R.Schmutz pinxit. Geo: Vertue Sculp: 1718.” In pencil lower left “1729” and lower right “1/6”.
Ambrose Godfrey the younger [sometimes referred to as Ambrose Godfrey Hanckwitz] was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1729.
Object history
Noted in Catalogue of the prints in the possession of the Royal Society, by Henry George Plimmer FRS (1856-1918), manuscript, p.31. J.P.Gassiot Collection, purchased 1878.
Associated place