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Formerly Called 'Nevil Maskelyne (1732–1811), Astronomer Royal'

Image credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

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The late Derek Howse, formerly Head of Astronomy at the National Maritime Museum and biographer of Nevil Maskelyne, the fifth Astronomer Royal, firmly believed that this portrait is misidentified on the basis of its great dissimilarity to Louis van der Puyl's undoubted Maskelyne portrait of 1785 owned by the Royal Society. Van der Puyl shows him in clerical dress (black with bands) appropriate to his formal status as a clerk in Holy Orders, rather than in the civil attire here, and against the background of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. This otherwise fine portrait against a classical column is therefore probably another astronomer, so far unidentified. He does have a resemblance to George Parker (1697–1764), 2nd Earl of Macclesfield who was an eminent amateur astronomer and President of the Royal Society from 1752 to his death, and was also painted by Hogarth.

National Maritime Museum

London

Title

Formerly Called 'Nevil Maskelyne (1732–1811), Astronomer Royal'

Date

1779

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 91.5 x W 71 cm

Accession number

BHC2854

Acquisition method

presented, 1936

Work type

Painting

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National Maritime Museum

Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England

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