Sir Joseph Banks, Bt

Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

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Naturalist, patron of science and President of the Royal Society (1778–1820). Banks sailed with Captain Cook to the Pacific on his first voyage aboard the Endeavour (1768–1771), and compiled a unique natural history collection. Banks held a position of great influence in the scientific world and he advised on ventures such as the Kew Botanic Gardens and the first British colonies in Australia. Banks sat to Reynolds in 1772 and again, after his voyage to Iceland, in 1773, and the freestanding globe in this portrait refers to his travels in search of botanical studies. The inscription on the letter, from Horace's Odes, reads Cras Ingens Iterabimus aequor, which may be translated as 'tomorrow we will sail the high seas again'.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

Sir Joseph Banks, Bt

Date

1771–1773

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 127 x W 101.5 cm

Accession number

5868

Acquisition method

Purchased with help from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and The Pilgrim Trust, 1986

Work type

Painting

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