The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Volume 1 (of 7)Malkin, Arthur Thomas
History
The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Volume 1 (of 7)
Malkin, Arthur Thomas
Biography
Newton died without a will, and his property descended to Mrs. Conduitt
and his other relations in the same degree. He was buried with great
pomp in Westminster Abbey, where there is a monument to his memory,
erected by his relations. His Chronology appeared, as has been already
mentioned, almost immediately after his death; and the Lectiones Opticæ,
the substance of his lectures at Cambridge in the years 1669, 1670, and
1671, were published from his manuscripts in 1729. In 1733, Mr. Benjamin
Smith, one of the descendants of his mother’s second marriage, published
the Observations on the Prophecies. These, in addition to the works
already mentioned, are Newton’s principal writings; there are, however,
several smaller tracts, some of which appeared during his lifetime, and
some after his death, which it is not necessary here to specify. They
would have conferred much honour on most philosophers;—they are hardly
remembered in reckoning up Newton’s titles to fame.
[Illustration: Roubiliac’s Statue from the Chapel of Trinity College.]
Many portraits of Newton are in existence. The Royal Society possesses
two; and Lord Egremont is the owner of one, which is engraved as the
frontispiece to Dr. Brewster’s Life of Newton. Trinity College,
Cambridge, abounds in memorials of its greatest ornament. Almost every
room dedicated to public purposes possesses a picture of him, and the
chapel is adorned by Roubiliac’s noble statue. The library also has a
bust by the same artist, of perhaps even superior excellence. As works
of art these are far superior to any of the paintings extant: but they
have not the claim to authenticity possessed by the contemporary
portraits. It is remarkable, that until the recent publication of Dr.
Brewster’s life, no one had thought it worth while to devote an entire
work to the history of so remarkable a man as Newton. There is, however,
an elaborate memoir of him, written by M. Biot, in the Biographie
Universelle, which has been republished in the Library of Useful
Knowledge.
[Illustration:
_Engraved by R. Woodman._
MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTI.
_From a Picture by V. Campil, in the possession of the Right Hon. Lord
Dover._
Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.
_London. Published by Charles Knight, Pall Mall East._
]
[Illustration]
MICHAEL ANGELO
Michael Angelo Buonaroti was born at the castle of Caprese in Tuscany,
on March 6, 1474–5. He was descended from a noble, though not a wealthy
family; and his father endeavoured to check the fondness for drawing
which he showed at an early age, lest he should disgrace his parentage
by following what was then deemed little better than a mechanical
employment. Fortunately for the arts, the bent of the son’s genius was
too decided to be foiled by the parent’s pride; and in April, 1488,
young Buonaroti was placed under the tuition of Ghirlandaio, then the
most eminent painter in Italy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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