Sir William Herschel

Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

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

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.

In 1781 the amateur astronomer Herschel identified Uranus, the first planet to be discovered since Antiquity. He was appointed court astronomer to George III the following year, 1782. Working with his sister Caroline (1750–1848), whom he had trained, he made four complete surveys of the night sky and was the first person correctly to describe the Milky Way. Using his great forty-foot telescope constructed over four years, he found two new satellites of Saturn in 1789. Herschel's discoveries astonished the public and inspired Romantic writers like Blake, Byron and Keats. He discovered more than two thousand nebulae and over eight hundred double stars.Herschel sat for this portrait on the encouragement of his friend, the naturalist, Sir William Watson: 'When you are in town on full moon nights you may perhaps spare an hour early in the morning, & may sit three or four times running – & the thing may in this way be done without much inconvenience or loss of time'.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

Sir William Herschel

Date

1785

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 76.2 x W 63.5 cm

Accession number

98

Acquisition method

Purchased, 1860

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

National Portrait Gallery, London

St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue