Was William Bonest (1647-1684) the ‘mysterious’ Mr Bonust who drew Robert Hooke’s portrait in October 1674?
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: As an original Fellow of The Royal Society of London and its earliest paid Curator of Experiments, Robert Hooke (1635-1702) was arguably the first professional scientist. The Hooke scholar, Felicity Henderson, has indicated that there is no clear evidence that the polymath ever had his portrait painted. Intriguingly, in his diary for 16th October 1674 Robert Hooke indicated “Left off taking tobacco - Mr Bonus drew picture”, raising the tantalising possibility that a drawing of Hooke may indeed languish, unidentified, in a private or public collection. Felicity Henderson reflected that Mr Bonust ‘is a rather mysterious figure.’ Here, I examine newly discovered evidence which points to William Bonest (1647-1684) as the possible artist.
Author: Whittaker, Christopher
Language: English
Subfield: Museology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7203751889