Is this the face of Robert Hooke?

4 March 2004

A painting which may be the sole surviving portrait of Robert Hooke, one of the most famous scientists of the seventeenth century, is on display at the Museum of the History of Science now.

It has long been believed that there is no surviving portrait of Hooke, who was for a time a student at Oxford. Recently, however, Professor Lisa Jardine has argued that a portrait thought be of John Ray (pictured) is actually of Robert Hooke.

For the final weeks of the 'Ingenuity' exhibition at the museum, which is about ingenuity in Restoration England, the portrait is on loan from the Natural History Museum in London and is displayed alongside arguments for and against the new identification. Visitors are invited to vote for Hooke or Ray.

To see the portrait, visit the Museum of the History of Science, Broad Street, between 2 March and 14 March; Tuesday to Saturday, 12 – 4 pm, Sunday 2 – 5 pm.

For more information visit the Museum of the History of Science website.