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Mary Somerville

3 of 5 portraits of Mary Somerville

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Mary Somerville

by Pierre-Jean David D'Angers
bronze medallion, 1833
5 5/8 in. (142 mm) diameter
Purchased, 1981
Primary Collection
NPG 5379

Sitterback to top

  • Mary Somerville (1780-1872), Scientific scholar and writer. Sitter in 5 portraits.

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This portraitback to top

D'Angers approached Somerville early in 1833, eager to model her profile for his portrait series.This medallion was made on the eve of publication of Somerville's immensely successful, On the Connection of the Physical Sciences (1834). Somerville records that the sculptor executed the model in a wonderfully short time' but that some did not favour the effect of the finished bronze, finding it 'very hard' and 'too unfeminine'. As if to authenticate the likeness, D'Angers has reproduced the sitter's autograph; he often employed this device to aid his interpretation of character and identity.

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Events of 1833back to top

Current affairs

Shaftesbury's Factory Act is passed regulating women's hours and providing for the education of children working in the textile industry.
Bank Act is passed, making Bank of England notes Britain's legal tender.

Art and science

Charles Lamb publishes Last Essays of Elia after the enormous success of his earlier Essays. A comic allegorization of his humdrum clerical job they become one of the period's literary sensations.
Charles Dickens begins his series Sketches by Boz in the Monthly Magazine.

International

Abolition of slavery in the British Empire; 780,000 slaves are freed, £20 million is allocated as compensation for slave owners and a six year apprenticeship system for freed slaves is established.

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