Michael Faraday started his scientific career as a Laboratory Assistant at the Royal Institution (Ri) and rose to fame through his scientific discoveries and popular lectures, eventually becoming Fullerian Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Laboratory.

This is a copy of a portrait was painted in 1830, the year before his major discovery of electromagnetic induction and his invention of the first electrical generator. The original painting, by Henry William Pickersgill, is one of the best known from the Ri collections but had been hanging in the Entrance Hall above a coal fire. This copy was commissioned to replace it and the original was moved to the Managers’ Room, away from cold draughts and smoke.