Charles Babbage
- Artist: Samuel Laurence
- Date: circa 1844-1845
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 50 in. x 40 in. (1270 mm x 1016 mm)
- Portrays: Charles Babbage
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
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About this artwork
In this portrait Samuel Laurence shows Charles Babbage at about forty‑five, his face set in a thoughtful half‑profile. The artist captures the mathematician’s sharp cheekbones, clear eyes, and neatly trimmed beard with soft brushwork that makes the light glow across his shirt collar. The canvas is fairly large – around fifty inches wide – so you can see the subtle folds of cloth and the gentle background wash that frames Babbage without distraction.
Laurence worked in oil on canvas, finishing this painting between 1844 and 1845. He had painted many sitters; Babbage appears among five separate portraits he did for the man. The portrait’s realism mirrors the era’s tendency to depict scholars with a dignified stance.
Babbage himself was an engineer, philosopher and pioneer of computing machines – his Difference and Analytical Engines were early attempts at mechanical calculation. Though the engines never finished in his lifetime, this canvas records him before that legacy took shape.
Here you can enjoy the painting in its full size in The National Portrait Gallery, a testament to 19th‑century portraiture.
See it in person
Charles Babbage is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
