South front of Friar Bacon’s study at Folly Bridge in the city of Oxford, England, an imposing hexagonal defensive tower built in the 1200s and designed to bar entry to the city from the south. ‘Tom Tower’ is visible through the arch. Friar Bacon (c. 1220 - c. 1292) was Roger Bacon, a medieval proponent of experimental science who studied mathematics, astronomy and optics; the tower was said to have been used by him as an astronomical observatory. Copperplate engraving by Joseph Skelton (c. 1783 - 1871), published in the early 1800s and based on a drawing in the Bodleian Library.
South front of ‘Friar Bacon’s Study’, the medieval gate tower in which Franciscan philosopher and scientist, Roger Bacon (c. 1220 - c. 1292), used to live and work. Copperplate engraving by Joseph Skelton (c. 1783 - 1871), published in the early 1800s. Roger Bacon was a major medieval proponent of experimental science who studied mathematics, astronomy, optics and languages. He carried out observations with lenses and mirrors, described spectacles (eye glasses) and elucidated the principles of reflection, refraction and spherical aberration. Joseph Skelton was an engraver who specialised in antiquarian and topographical subjects and brother of engraver William Skelton. In the 1200s, an imposing hexagonal defensive tower was constructed at the southern end of Folly Bridge, a bridge over the River Thames. Complete with portcullis, drawbridge and heavy gates, the tower was designed to bar entry to the city of Oxford from the south. Shortly after its construction, the tower was said to have been used by Roger Bacon as an astronomical observatory and thereafter was known as ‘Friar Bacon’s Study’. The tower was demolished in 1779 in order to widen Folly Bridge to accommodate traffic. Therefore, the tower had been demolished about 40 years before Skelton created this engraving and, according to the engraving’s caption, Skelton used a drawing in Oxford University’s Bodleian Library as a basis for his work. The distinctive bell tower glimpsed through the archway, ‘Tom Tower’, was designed by Christopher Wren (1632 - 1723) and still stands.
Size: 8816px × 12159px
Location: Friar Bacon’s Study, Folly Bridge, Oxford, England, UK
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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