The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was founded by Charles II in 1675 and was the nation’s first state-sponsored scientific establishment. Fellows of the Royal Society were involved in the observatory’s development, including Christopher Wren who selected the site and designed the building. Francis Place’s etching shows astronomers at work in the Great Room, watched over by portraits of their royal patrons. The Great Room contained many of the Observatory’s principal instruments including refracting telescopes and quadrants designed by Robert Hooke.

Cat. 198