| Description | A collection of works of art principally depicting Fellows, Foreign Members and other scientists. The first portraits were presented to the Royal Society in the 1680s, since which time the collection has expanded, largely by donation. Since 1941, the Society has commissioned likenesses of each President at the end of the five-year term of office, providing the only regular additions to the collection. The work of a variety of important artists and their schools is represented, including Peter Lely (1618-1680), Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), William Hogarth (1697-1764), Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) and Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830). Several portraits are of scientists who predate the formation of the Royal Society and there are several canvasses of some Fellows, such as Newton, Boyle and Flamsteed. |