Hooke's figurations: a figural drawing attributed to Robert Hooke

摘要

The experimental philosopher Robert Hooke (1635–1703) is known to have apprenticed tonthe leading painter Peter Lely on his first arrival in London in the late 1640s. Yet thenrelevance of Hooke’s artistic training to his mature draughtsmanship and identity hasnremained unclear. Shedding light on that larger interpretive problem, this article arguesnfor the attribution to Hooke of a figural drawing now in Tate Britain (T10678). Thisnattributed drawing is especially interesting because it depicts human subjects and bearsnHooke’s name functioning as an artistic signature, both highly unusual features for hisndraughtsmanship. From evidence of how this drawing was collected and physically placednalongside images by leading artists in the early eighteenth century, I suggest how it cannoffer new insight into the reception of Hooke and his graphic work in the earlynEnlightenment.