| Collection | ABDUA University of Aberdeen, Human Culture Collection |
| Object Name | Painting (James Gregory) |
| Picture |
| Portrait |
| Object Number | ABDUA:30075 |
| Other Number | x |
| Other Number Type | Old number |
| Brief Description | 2/3 portrait of James Gregory, facing slightly right. Sitter has long brown hair. He is wearing a black gown, with clerical collar, white puff-like cuff, in a brown background. Astronomical globe right. Gregory (1638-1675), Drumoak, MA Marischal College 1657, inventor of reflecting telescope, Prof Mathematics St Andrews, 1674 Prof Mathematics Edinburgh. This painting was exhibited at the Palace of History Exhibition, Glasgow 1911. Glazed (cast acrylic). |
| Content Description | Gregory, James |
| Dimensions | H: 1470 mm W: 920 mm Th: 95 mm | H: 745 mm W: 615 mm |
| Materials | Oil on canvas |
| Condition | good |
| Completeness | Complete |
| Technique | Painting |
| Maker | Circle of David Scougal. |
| Object Production Date | 1650-1800 |
| Place Key | Europe, Scotland, North East, Aberdeen |
| Inscription Content | Mid right: No28 Nameplate: James Gregory |
| Publication Note | The Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF), 'Oil Paintings in Public Ownership - Aberdeen', 2013. LEMUR Database. Glaister, J, 1911, The Palace of History, Scottish Exhibition, Glasgow, p40, 112; Holloway, 1985, Treasures of Fyvie No1; Arnott (1897) Description,No144; AU Calendar (1887) no13; Knights notes p1293.; Pryor, M (2002) Painting the Profile: Imagery and Identity in the Art, Collections of King’s and Marischal Colleges, 1495-1860, |
| Caption | "Gregory (1638-1675) was born at Drumoak. He graduated from Marischal College in 1657. His first important work was in optics, and by 1663 he had published a book on the subject and had invented the reflecting telescope. Later that year he went to Italy to further his mathematical studies. There he published 2 books on calculus (as it was later known). He returned to Scotland in 1668 and became the first professor of maths at St. Andrews. In 1674 he went to Edinburgh but shortly afterwards his health began to fail and he died the following year. He shares with Newton the credit for the discovery and proof of the general binomial theorem and for the development of the theory of interpolation. Possibly a copy or a duplicate work by Scougal as a portrait of Gregory attributed to John Scougal is in Fyvie Castle (ex 1884 Scot Nat Portraits No494 Artist unknown). This was reputedly in the possession of the Gregory Family since it was painted between 1661-1675. The University work lacks the inscription of the Fyvie painting however the inscription is post mortem."
Author: Morrison,John Date: 2002 Purpose: HA3541
|