''Newton'', sometimes known as ''Newton after Blake'', is a 1995 work by the sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi. The large bronze sculpture is displayed on a high plinth in the piazza outside the British Library in London. The sculpture is based on William Blake's 1795 print of ''Newton: Personification of Man Limited by Reason'', which depicts a naked Isaac Newton sitting on ledge beside a mossy rock face while measuring with a pair of compasses or dividers. The print was intended by Blake to criticise Newton's profane knowledge, usurping the sacred knowledge and power of the creator Urizen, with the scientist turning away from nature to focus on his books. Paolozzi had admired Blake since viewing a large print of ''Newton'' at the Tate Gallery in the 1940s. He was also a friend of

Colin St John Wilson Sir Colin Alexander St John ("Sandy") Wilson, FRIBA, RA, (14 March 1922 – 14 May 2007) was an English architect, lecturer and author. He spent over 30 years progressing the project to build a new British Library in London, originally planned t ...

, the architect of the British Library, since they both participated in the This is Tomorrow exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1956. Wilson intended to site a seated sculpture at the junction of the two main axes in the piazza of his library. Paolozzi was then working on a sculpture of Newton, and he was commissioned to create the sculpture for the library. The new library was constructed from 1982 to 1999, and the sculpture was installed in 1995. The sculpture includes Paolozzi's self-portrait as the naked Newton, measuring the universe with his dividers. The eyes were copied from

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

's '' David''. It can be interpreted as symbolising a confluence of the

two cultures "The Two Cultures" is the first part of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow which were published in book form as ''The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution'' the same year. Its thesis was that sci ...

, the arts and the sciences, and illustrating how Newton changed our view of the world to one determined by mathematical laws. The sculpture makes the body resemble a mechanical object, joined with bolts at the shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles. The sculptures shows the visible seams of Paolozzi's technique of dividing his model and reassembling the pieces, for example on the head. The final full-size sculpture stands high, and is mounted on a high plinth. The bronze was cast by the Morris Singer foundry; it was funded by the

Foundation for Sport and the Arts Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cau ...

. It was included in the Grade I listing of the library, granted in 2015. A maquette was donated by the artist to the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge. A bronze model cast in 1988 "from the model made to show the Library committee", has been held by the Tate Gallery since 1995.Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, ''Newton'', 1988
Tate Gallery A similar sculpture from 1989, ''Master of the Universe'', is at the Scottish National Gallery Of Modern Art in Edinburgh, with another example in Hong Kong.

Gallery

File:Dean Gallery Paolozzi 03.jpg, Dean Gallery, Edinburgh/Scotland File:HK KlnPark ConceptOfNewton.JPG, Hong Kong, Kowloon Park

References

The British Library, piazza, boundary wall and railings to Ossulston Street, Euston Road and Midland Road
National Heritage List for England, Historic England
Statue: British Library – ''Newton''
London Remembers
Paolozzi’s ''Newton'', British Library
Tate Gallery
Paolozzi's Sculpture of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences
''Eduardo Paolozzi, Master of the Universe'' (1989)
National Galleries Scotland

Ornamental Passions
''Blake 2.0: William Blake in Twentieth-Century Art, Music and Culture''
edited by Steve Clark, T. Connolly, Jason Whittaker
''The Architecture of the British Library at St. Pancras''
Roger Stonehouse, Gerhard Stromberg, p. 175 {{coord, 51.5290, -0.1276, display=title 1995 sculptures Bronze sculptures in England Outdoor sculptures in London Statues in London Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Cultural depictions of Isaac Newton British Library 1995 in England Adaptations of works by William Blake