A sphere of influence: the monument to Sir Isaac Newton by William Kent and Michael Rysbrack

The monument to Sir Isaac Newton designed by William Kent and sculpted by Michael Rysbrack was installed in Westminster Abbey in 1731. This article begins with a close reading of the monument, rendering unexpected results: focusing attention on the relief panel set into the sarcophagus reveals an underlying meaning beyond the obvious pointers towards Newton’s scientific achievements, including allusions to his studies in the field of alchemy. Newton’s engagement with alchemy was not generally known in his lifetime, yet, presumably at the behest of John and Catherine Conduitt, who commissioned the monument, Kent and Rysbrack contrived to include this major area of Newton’s output, and it has been hiding in plain sight ever since. The second part of the article develops from a reading of the monument’s defining feature, the enormous celestial globe at its centre. It explores reproductions of the monument over time, and especially the globe as a recurring theme in homages to Newton, from prints and medals to the grandiose and impossible architectural propositions of Etienne-Louis Boullée and Thomas Steele; as an inspiration to photographers, from George Washington Wilson to Helmut Gernsheim; and concluding with George Rhoads’ and Creative Machines’ audio-kinetic sculpture, Newton’s Daydream (2005 and 2015).