Porträt Johann Theophilus Desaguliers (1683-1744)

Portrait of Johann Desaguliers. The French-born clergyman is shown sitting at a table head-on as a chest. He turned his head to the left, the view is directed head-on at the viewer. He wears a black robe, as is common among jurists, and a peg and wig. In his right hand, he holds a magnifying glass that he pointed at an object, a prism, perhaps, on the table. Johann Desaguliers was a natural philosopher, scientist and inventor. He received three awards from the Royal Society, including his work “A course of Experimental Philosophy.” He gave lectures about physics in London. He was friends with Sir Isaac Newton and helped him with his experiments. He met Georg Friedrich Händel in the Cannons Chapel as a Handel there became an organist and Desaguliers was Kapellmeister there. The leaf is estimated at around 1743 and was engraved by James Tookey. The template was a work by Hans Hysing. Today, several specimens are located in the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum in London. Signature: H. Hysing pinx.t J. Tookey sculpt. Caption: J. T. Desaguliers. (Stiftung Händel-Haus Halle Foundation)