Daniela Rhodes ('Professor Daniela Rhodes FRS')
- Artist: Soheila Sokhanvari
- Date: 2025
- Medium: Lapis Lazuli
- Dimensions: 7 3/4 in. x 5 5/8 in. (198.1 mm x 142.9 mm) overall
- Portrays: Daniela Rhodes
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
Before you is a portrait of Dr Daniela Rhodes (born 1946), a structural and molecular biologist who studies chromosomes. The work was painted on calf vellum in 2025 by artist Soheila Sokhanvari. She mixed lapis lazuli, genuine Iranian azurite, Egyptian blue, 3¾ carats of gold and silver, and egg tempera to lift the sitter’s face into relief. The canvas measures 7 ¾ inches high by 5 ⅝ inches wide. It is a short‑term loan from the artist herself. This portrait is the fourth in a series of pioneering scientists created for Artists First: Contemporary Perspectives on Portraiture.
See it in person
Daniela Rhodes ('Professor Daniela Rhodes FRS') is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
