Caroline Herschel

Head and shoulder portrait of Caroline Herschel, from a painting by Tielemann (1829) 'in the possession of Sir J. W. Herschel'. Caroline Herschel reports in a letter to her nephew dated 3 March 1829 that 'I have suffered much during this severe winter, and have not been able to leave my habitation above three or four times for the last three months, and feel, moreover, much fatigued by sitting eight times within the last ten days to Professor Tielemann for having my picture taken, which he did at my apartment, and now he has taken it home to finish.' In all there are four depictions of Caroline known to have been produced. One very early silhouette of Caroline as a young woman now held at the Museum for the History of Science in Oxford. The second a portrait of unknown date and artist showing Caroline sitting at a table in front of a scroll showing the path of some of the comets she discovered. Reproductions of this are often cropped to leave out the scroll. The third is this Tielemann portrait and the fourth, produced only months before her death was like the Tielemann portrait made in Hanover. This time by Muller produced in 1848 when Caroline was 97 years old.
Professor Tielemann

Original size: 317 mm x 255 mm