Portraits of Charles Darwin
Encyclopedia
There are many known portraits of Charles Darwin. Darwin
came from a wealthy family and became a well-known naturalist and author, and portrait
s were made of him in childhood, adulthood and old age. Darwin's life (1809-1882) spanned the development of photography
, and early portraits of Darwin are drawn or painted, while later portraits are monochrome photographs. After the publication and dissemination of the controversial On the Origin of Species in 1859, Darwin was also the subject of numerous caricature
s.
Darwin's visage, particularly his iconic beard, continues to be culturally significant and widely recognizable into the 21st century. According to historian Betty Smocovitis, Darwin's capacity to commission photographs of himself—and their widespread reproduction as carte de visite
and cabinet card
photographs—helped to cement the lasting connection between Darwin and the theory of evolution in popular thought (largely to the exclusion of the many others who also contributed to the development of evolutionary theory), especially as these portraits were reinterpreted in caricature. Most 19th century scientists could not afford the luxury of so many photographs as Darwin.
Especially in his last decades as his illness
progressed, Darwin expressed frustration about sitting for photographs. He turned down an opportunity in 1869 to sit for a portrait with Alfred Russel Wallace
, explaining that sitting for photographs "is what I hate doing & wastes a whole day owing to my weak health; and to sit with another person would cause still more trouble & delay." Nevertheless, there are at least 53 known photographs of Darwin, according to Gene Kritsky, a scholar of Darwin photos.
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
came from a wealthy family and became a well-known naturalist and author, and portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s were made of him in childhood, adulthood and old age. Darwin's life (1809-1882) spanned the development of photography
History of photography
The first permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.- Etymology :The word photography derives from the Greek words phōs light, and gráphein, to write...
, and early portraits of Darwin are drawn or painted, while later portraits are monochrome photographs. After the publication and dissemination of the controversial On the Origin of Species in 1859, Darwin was also the subject of numerous caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s.
Darwin's visage, particularly his iconic beard, continues to be culturally significant and widely recognizable into the 21st century. According to historian Betty Smocovitis, Darwin's capacity to commission photographs of himself—and their widespread reproduction as carte de visite
Carte de visite
The carte de visite was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris, France by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero...
and cabinet card
Cabinet card
The Cabinet card was the style of photograph which was universally adopted for photographic portraiture in 1870. It consisted of a thin photograph that was generally mounted on cards measuring 4¼ by 6½ inches.-History:...
photographs—helped to cement the lasting connection between Darwin and the theory of evolution in popular thought (largely to the exclusion of the many others who also contributed to the development of evolutionary theory), especially as these portraits were reinterpreted in caricature. Most 19th century scientists could not afford the luxury of so many photographs as Darwin.
Especially in his last decades as his illness
Charles Darwin's illness
For much of his adult life, Charles Darwin's health was repeatedly compromised by an uncommon combination of symptoms, leaving him severely debilitated for long periods of time...
progressed, Darwin expressed frustration about sitting for photographs. He turned down an opportunity in 1869 to sit for a portrait with Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
, explaining that sitting for photographs "is what I hate doing & wastes a whole day owing to my weak health; and to sit with another person would cause still more trouble & delay." Nevertheless, there are at least 53 known photographs of Darwin, according to Gene Kritsky, a scholar of Darwin photos.
Chronological list of portraits
| Year | Creator | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1816 | Ellen Sharples Ellen Sharples Ellen Wallace Sharples was an English painter who specialized in portraits in pastel and in watercolor miniatures on ivory. She exhibited five miniatures at the Royal Academy in 1807, and founded the Bristol Fine Arts Academy in 1844 with a substantial gift.-Biography:Ellen Wallace was born in... |
Chalk drawing of Charles (age six) and his sister Catherine | |
| late 1830s | George Richmond George Richmond For the 21st century educator see George H. RichmondGeorge Richmond was an English painter.George Richmond was the father of the painter William Blake Richmond as well as the grandfather of the naval historian, Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond.A keen follower of cricket, Richmond was noted in one... |
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Water-color portrait from after Darwin's return from the voyage of the Beagle Second voyage of HMS Beagle The second voyage of HMS Beagle, from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836, was the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle, under captain Robert FitzRoy who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after her previous captain committed suicide... |
| 1842 |  |
Daguerrotype of Darwin (age 33) with his son William William Erasmus Darwin William Erasmus Darwin was the first-born son of Charles and Emma Darwin, and the subject of psychological studies by his father. He was educated at Rugby School and Christ's College Cambridge, and later became a banker at Grant and Maddison's Union Banking Company in Southampton. In 1877 he... , reproduced in The Life, Letters, and Labours of Francis Galton by Karl Pearson Karl Pearson Karl Pearson FRS was an influential English mathematician who has been credited for establishing the disciplineof mathematical statistics.... |
|
| 1849 | Thomas Herbert Maguire Thomas Herbert Maguire Thomas Herbert Maguire was an English artist and engraver, noted for his portraits of prominent figures.Maguire was a brilliant pupil of master lithographer and line-engraver, Richard James Lane , one of the favourite collaborators of the Swiss portrait painter, Alfred Edward Chalon in the pages... |
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| 1853 | Samuel Laurence Samuel Laurence Samuel Laurence was a British portrait painter. Laurence's first exhibition was in London at the Society of British Artists, in 1834. In 1836 he sent three portraits to the Royal Academy... |
Pastel chalk drawing of Darwin by Samuel Laurence | |
| circa 1855 | Maull & Polyblank (photography partnership of Henry Maull Henry Maull Henry Maull was a British photographer who specialised in portraits of noted individuals.-Biography:Maull was born in Clerkenwell as the son of a tradesman... and George Henry Polyblank |
Portrait for the Literary and Scientific Portrait Club about which Darwin wrote in a May 27, 1855 letter: "if I really have as bad an expression, as my photograph gives me, how I can have one single friend is surprising." | |
| 1859 or 1860 | [Henry] Maull and [John] Fox |  |
A portrait by Maull & Fox, reproduced in The Life, Letters, and Labours of Francis Galton by Karl Pearson Karl Pearson Karl Pearson FRS was an influential English mathematician who has been credited for establishing the disciplineof mathematical statistics.... . A derivative engraving was produced for Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010... , October 1884, and used as the frontispiece of Francis Darwin Francis Darwin Sir Francis "Frank" Darwin, FRS , a son of the British naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin, followed his father into botany.-Biography:Francis Darwin was born in Down House, Downe, Kent in 1848... 's The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin (1887). According to Francis Darwin "the date of the photograph is probably 1854; it is, however, impossible to be certain on this point, the books of Messrs. Maull and Fox having been destroyed by fire." However, according to Pearson it is Darwin at age 51, dating it to 1859 or 1860. |
| circa 1866 | Ernest Edwards (1837–1903) | ||
| circa 1866 | Ernest Edwards (1837–1903) | ||
| 1867 | Ernest Edwards (1837–1903) | ||
| 1867 | Ernest Edwards (1837–1903) | ||
| 1867 | André Gill André Gill André Gill was a French caricaturist. Born Louis-Alexandre Gosset de Guînes at Paris, the son of the Comte de Guînes and Sylvie-Adeline Gosset, he studied at this city's Academy of Fine Arts. He adopted the pseudonym André Gill in homage to his hero, James Gillray. Gill began illustrating for... |
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| 1868 | Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary themes.... |
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| 1868 | Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary themes.... |
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| 1869 | Attributed to Julia Margaret Cameron, although it has been suggested that this is a reversed image of a photograph taken by Leonard Darwin in the 1870s. |  |
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| 1869 | Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary themes.... |
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| 1869 | Laura Russell (1816-1885) | oil on canvas | |
| circa 1871 | Oscar Gustave Rejlander Oscar Gustave Rejlander Oscar Gustave Rejlander was a pioneering Victorian art photographer and an expert in photomontage... |
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| 1871 | The Hornet artist | "A Venerable Orang-outang", a caricature from the March 22, 1871 issue of The Hornet magazine | |
| 1871 | "Coïdé", a.k.a. James Jacques Joseph Tissot |  |
"Natural Selection", a Vanity Fair caricature from the September 30, 1871 issue |
| 1874 | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| unknown | unknown [possibly Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... ]; published by John G. Murdoch |
A Woodburytype Woodburytype The term Woodburytype refers to both a photomechanical process and the print produced by this process. The process produces continuous tone images in slight relief. A chromated gelatin film is exposed under a photographic negative, which hardens in proportion to the amount of light. Then it is... carte de visite |
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| unknown | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| unknown | unknown | ||
| circa 1874 | Leonard Darwin Leonard Darwin Major Leonard Darwin , a son of the English naturalist Charles Darwin, was variously a soldier, politician, economist, eugenicist and mentor of the statistician and evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher.- Biography :... |
Numerous photographs were taken by Darwin's son Leonard, who was an avid amateur photographer. These photographs are not public domain. | |
| 1875 | Walter William Ouless Walter William Ouless Walter William Ouless, RA was a British portrait painter from Jersey. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1877 and a full member in 1881.... (1848-1933) |
A painting by W. W. Ouless that hangs in Christ's College Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:... at Cambridge University |
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| circa 1875 | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| late 1870s | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| 1877 | Lock & Whitfield | ||
| 1878 | Marion Collier (née Huxley) (1859–1887) | Pencil sketch | |
| unknown | unknown | ||
| 1879 | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| 1881 | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| 1881 | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| 29 November, 1881 | Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry. For a century the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political... |
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| 1881 | Punch artist |  |
"Man is But a Worm", including a caricature of Darwin, from the 1882 Punch Punch (magazine) Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration... almanac. It was published soon after Darwin's last book The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits is an 1881 book by Charles Darwin on earthworms. It was his last scientific book, and was published shortly before his death... . |
| 1881 (copied in 1883) | John Collier John Collier (artist) The Honourable John Maler Collier OBE RP ROI , called 'Jack' by his family and friends, was a leading English artist, and an author. He painted in the Pre-Raphaelite style, and was one of the most prominent portrait painters of his generation. Both his marriages were to daughters of Thomas Henry... |
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A copy made by John Collier in 1883 of his 1881 portrait of Charles Darwin. According to Darwin's son Erasmus, "The picture is a replica of the one in the rooms in the Linnaean Society and was made by Collier after the original. I took some trouble about it and as a likeness it is an improvement on the original." |
| 1881 | Herbert Rose Barraud Herbert Rose Barraud Herbert Rose Barraud was a noted portrait photographer who had studios in London and Liverpool. He produced cabinet photographs of many famous Victorian statesmen, artists, and members of the aristocracy, many of which were published in his two-volume work, Men and Women of the Day, 1888-89... (1845–1896) |
Photograph by Herbert Rose Barraud, thought by Darwin photograph scholar Gene Kritsky to be the last photograph taken of Darwin before his death in 1882. | |
| unknown | Harry Furniss Harry Furniss Henry Furniss was an artist and illustrator, born in Wexford, Ireland. His father was English and his mother Scottish, Furniss identifying himself as English... |
A pen and ink caricature by illustrator Harry Furniss Harry Furniss Henry Furniss was an artist and illustrator, born in Wexford, Ireland. His father was English and his mother Scottish, Furniss identifying himself as English... |
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External links
- Charles Robert Darwin — National Portrait Gallery, London
- Photographs - The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online
- Darwiniana - Catalog of reproductions and derivatives of Darwin's image
- Darwin portraits — University of Oklahoma Libraries, History of Science Collections
- http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/result.html?_IXCLSH_=y&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXINITSR_=y&_IXACTION_=query&_IXMAXHITS_=15&%24+with+wi_sfgu+is+Y=%2e&%2asform=wellcome%2dimages&%24%3dsort=sort+sortexpr+image_sort&_IXSPFX_=templates%2fb&c=%22historical+images%22+OR+%22contemporary+images%22+OR+%22corporate+images%22+OR+%22contemporary+clinical+images%22&%24%3ds=charles+robert+darwin&_IXFPFX_=templates%2ft&%24%3dsi=textCharles Robert Darwin] - Wellcome Images
- "Evolutionists Flock To Darwin-Shaped Wall Stain", The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, September 5, 2008.