Located in the British Museum, the placard accompanying this sculpture reads:
"Richard Bentley (1662-1742)
Clay
English, Louis Francois Roubiliac
about 1750-60
The clay bust, covered with a paint
layer of indeterminate age is the
model for the marble in the Library
of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Bentley, who took Holy Orders in
1690, was royal librarian, chaplain to
the king and a Fellow of the Royal
Society. He was a brilliant scholar
and critic, notably of classical texts.
His friends included John Evelyn,
Sir Christopher Wren, John Locke
and Isaac Newton, whom he invited
weekly to his lodgings in St. Jame's
Palace. In 1700 he was admitted
Trinity College, Cambridge,
where he encouraged the new science."
Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"Called the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is credited with the creation of the English school of Hellenism. He inspired generations of subsequent scholars."