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Secondary sourceSculpture1755

Statue of Isaac Newton, Trinity College Chapel

Louis-François Roubiliac · 1755

A marble statue of Isaac Newton holding a prism, made in 1755 and standing in the chapel of his old college.

This statue, made nearly thirty years after Newton's death, commemorates him at the college where he studied and worked.

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White marble statue of Isaac Newton standing on a grey marble pedestal in a wood-panelled chapel. He wears flowing robes and holds a paper in one hand. Behind him is a wall inscribed with long rows of names in gold lettering. The pedestal bears a plaque reading NEWTON and a Latin inscription.
Louis-François Roubiliac, statue of Isaac Newton, 1755. Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge.

About this source

What it is

This white marble statue of Isaac Newton was sculpted in 1755 by Louis-François Roubiliac and stands in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, where Newton studied from 1661. Newton is shown in flowing robes holding a paper, standing on a pedestal inscribed in Latin with words praising his genius.

Why it matters

The statue was made decades after Newton's death to honour him as Trinity's most famous student. It was admired as one of the finest English statues and later inspired a line by the poet Wordsworth describing Newton's mind as travelling alone through 'strange seas of Thought'. It shows how later generations remembered and celebrated Newton as a symbol of genius.

Look closer

  • Why do you think the sculptor chose to show Newton holding a paper rather than another object?
  • What does the Latin inscription on the pedestal tell us about how Newton was remembered?
  • How might a statue made long after someone's death shape the way we imagine them?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Isaac Newton on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1687 first edition of Newton's Principia. Large capitals read PHILOSOPHIÆ NATURALIS PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA, with author credit, Imprimatur by S. Pepys, dated Julii 5, 1686, and London printing by Josephi Streater, Anno MDCLXXXVII.Book

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Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica

Isaac Newton · 1687

Title page with a page number marked [1] at top, reading PHILOSOPHIAE NATURALIS Principia MATHEMATICA, followed by the heading Definitiones and Def. I, with a Latin definition of quantity of matter in italic type. Faint bleed-through text from the reverse page is visible.Book

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Principia Mathematica, Page 1: Definitions

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Black-and-white line engraving of an elderly man with long, wavy white hair seated in a dark armchair, wearing a dark coat, waistcoat, and white cravat, with his hands resting on his knee. A column appears at the right. Inscribed beneath: 'ISAACUS NEWTON EQ. AUR. ÆT. 83', with 'I. Vanderbank pinxit 1725' at lower left and 'Geo. Vertue Sculpsit 1726' at lower right.Painting

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Sir Isaac Newton, line engraving by Vertue, 1726

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Engraved diagram on a cream page within a book, showing a curved comet path from Sol at left, with dated positions such as Nov. 25, Dec. 12, Jan. 5 and Mar. 5, labeled orbit lines and a sphere intersection line.Document

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Principia Mathematica, Fold-out Diagram

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Engraved portrait of Sir Isaac Newton, a man with long curled wig and dark robe, bust-length, against a shaded background. Caption below reads 'SIR ISAAC NEWTON' and publisher 'William Collins Glasgow & London'.Painting

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Sir Isaac Newton, stipple engraving by J. Scott after Kneller, 1702

J. Scott, after Sir Godfrey Kneller · 1702 (print made later)

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