Sir James Dewar (1842–1923), Lecturing on Liquid Hydrogen at the Royal Institution, 1904

Image credit: The Royal Institution

How you can use this image

 

This image is available to be shared and re-used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND).

You can reproduce this image for non-commercial purposes and you are not able to change or modify it in any way.

Wherever you reproduce the image you must attribute the original creators (acknowledge the original artist(s) and the person/organisation that took the photograph of the work) and any other rights holders.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find more images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Download

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

This image depicts a formal lecture to Members of the Royal Institution by James Dewar. The audience includes many famous people from science, industry and politics including Lord Rayleigh, Lord Kelvin and Arthur Balfour, the Prime Minister of the time. While supposedly depicting an actual event, the artist wanted to make sure that he did not leave anyone important out, whether or not they were really there or even alive at the time.

Dewar was famous for being the first person to liquefy hydrogen by cooling it to −252.87°C. It was a dangerous process: Robert Lennox, one of his assistants, was caught in an explosion and lost an eye. You can see him in the background, turned away from the viewer to hide the scars. Dewar also invented the vacuum (thermos) flask to minimise heat loss and so keep gas liquid for as long as possible.

The Royal Institution

London

Title

Sir James Dewar (1842–1923), Lecturing on Liquid Hydrogen at the Royal Institution, 1904

Date

1905

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 137 x W 244.2 cm

Accession number

RIIC 0050

Acquisition method

presented by Ludwig Mond and other Members, 1906

Work type

Painting

Normally on display at

The Royal Institution

21 Albermarle Street, London, Greater London W1S 4BS England

Not all locations are open to the public. Please contact the gallery or collection for more information
View venue