Portraits have a peculiar fascination for people. As Lisa
Jardine pointed out recently, historical figures come to life so
much more vividly when a portrait is available. This is true for
historians almost as much as anyone else. Therefore the thought
that there might be an undiscovered or lost portrait of a famous
and controversial figure like Robert Hooke is extremely
tantalising. It also grips the public imagination – several
visitors to the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary exhibition
over the summer commented, ‘they say Newton destroyed a portrait
of Hooke’. Indeed ,’they’ do say this. The final scene in the
2009 Royal Shakespeare Company production ‘The Tragedy of Thomas
Hobbes’ showed Newton slashing a portrait, a reference that
shows how familiar this story has become. So the question is,
did Newton do it? He seems to have had both motive and
opportunity. His relations with Hooke had turned sour in 1686
following controversy over Hooke’s contributions to Newton’s
theory of gravity. After Hooke’s death