Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Bt

Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Bt (1819-1903), Mathematician and physicist.

This portrait medallion is said to be a very faithful likeness of Sir George Stokes in his 80th year. It was produced to celebrate his jubilee as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, according to the portrait's donor, Arthur Hutchinson, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge. In June 1899 the University presented Stokes with a gold medal bearing on one side his profile portrait and on the other a Latin inscription. Further examples of the medal were struck in bronze, including an example given to the National Portrait Gallery with this medallion. A few large bronze medallions were made from the plaster which in reduced form was used for the medal.