Tycho Brahe (1546–1601)

What it is

This is an oil portrait dated 1620, painted by an unknown artist and held today by the Royal Society of London. It shows a bearded man in a dark robe with a lace ruff and gold chain, one hand resting on a globe and the other gesturing toward papers and a book, with his name painted in gold letters.

Why it matters

That the Royal Society, one of the world's oldest scientific institutions, owns and displays this portrait shows how later generations of scientists honored Tycho Brahe as a founding figure of careful astronomical observation, even though he died decades before the Society was founded.

Look closer

• Why might the painter have shown Tycho with a globe and papers rather than other objects?
• What does it mean for an institution like the Royal Society to collect and preserve a portrait like this?
• What was likely lost or simplified in painting a person's image after their lifetime?