Destined to become one of the most influential men in world history, Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury on 12 February 1809. A £2 coin now marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and focuses on his theory that man descended from apes, featuring a portrait of Darwin in profile along with that of a chimpanzee. The edge inscription, meanwhile, recalls the publication of his theory with the words ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 1859.
The Coin
The new commemorative reverse design was created by Suzie Zamit who explains:
'The brief was to submit reverse designs for a new £2 coin issued to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859.'
As I am a sculptor, mainly portraitist, my approach was figurative.
My immediate idea was to depict Darwin looking back into the past so the starting point was to have him in full or 3/4 profile on one side and there were a variety of options for the other; early human image profile or skull, ape, fossils, early plant life etc. He dealt with human origins in the Descent of Man published at a later date but it was human evolution that most people associate with Darwin and particularly the Victorian cartoons that depict him with the body of a monkey or the walking upright sequence. I conducted a vox pop among colleagues and friends for an iconic image they associated with Darwin and the majority said a monkey . The Galapagos Islands came second (which don't quite have the same visual appeal on a coin!). I have always loved animals on coins and very much enjoyed the chance to be able to sculpt a chimp portrait on this one.
I decided having Darwin and an ape was the simplest and most recognizable way of saying EVOLUTION. I found many more images of him in 3/4 profile, but with the low relief required for modern coinage, full profiles are always much more successful and the eye contact between the two is visually very powerful. The fascinating thing too is that Darwin has very deep set eyes and a prominent brow...I'm not sure whether this is fact or not, but his children referred to him as a missing link! Chimps in fact share 95% of our DNA ... I chose a chimp profile and enjoyed myself trying to make it as Darwin-like as possible in its character... aged and serious.
I am now embarked on a lifesize portrait of Darwin having been tantalised by so much work on one profile and the need to look at the whole head, and especially to get to grips with that wonderful brow and deepset eyes'.
'I was born a naturalist'
Charles Darwin was born at The Mount, the family home built by his father Robert in 1798. His grandfather, the physician Dr. Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), had been a prominent thinker on evolution in Britain and had published Zoonomia in 1794 promoting the idea that life began as microscopic specks in primeval seas developing, over hundreds of millions of years, into the various forms of life. His father, however, remained firmly conventional and the young Charles was raised in a religious family. His upbringing, however, encouraged his early interest in flowers and wild birds.
1831 - 1836 Voyage of Discovery
'The Most Important Event of my Life'
Darwin returned to Shrewsbury in the summer of 1831 and, after undertaking a short geological expedition in Wales, received what he called the 'most important event of my life' - he was invited as naturalist aboard HMS Beagle to survey the southern coasts of South America. The voyage took nearly five years. Darwin methodically collected huge numbers of specimens, both fossils and living organisms. He noticed that these species were often incredibly similar, but with distinct differences depending on their exact territory, including, most famously, those of the Galapagos Islands. Though his thoughts were not yet clear, the theory of natural selection was born.
He returned to Britain in October 1836 to find that his letters, notes and journals sent to Henslow, as well as his geological specimens and fossils, had aroused intense interest in the scientific world.
With now typical vigour, Darwin researched extensively. By 1844 he had worked out the essentials of his evolutionary theory and began writing of his findings. He next embarked on a detailed microscopic study of barnacles and in the 1850s drew together the strands of his research to continue what he came to call 'my abominable volume'. By 1859 others were publishing ideas similar to his own and he rushed to bring out On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection. The first edition sold out on its first day.
The Theory of Natural Selection
On the Origin of Species set out the theory of natural selection, the idea that certain animals of a species, being better adapted than others to their environment, would be more likely to survive and breed so that, over time, the species would evolve bearing the favourable characteristics. Flying in the face of common wisdom and religious convention, Darwin's theory may not have been universally accepted, but changed the scientific world forever.
Ahead of his Time
In his later years, Darwin wrote ten more books including The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Though Darwin would not extend his ideas to humans until 1871, cartoons of Darwin's head on the body of an ape were commonplace, and his iconic beard was intended as a disguise when in public.
Down House
Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood in 1839. They moved from London to Down House, near the village of Downe in Kent in 1842, and there he lived and worked for 40 years, devotedly cared for by Emma, in the midst of a growing family of ten children. After recurring bouts of illness, Charles Darwin died at Down House on 19 April 1882 and was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey.