<img alt=“darwin.JPG” src=“https://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/darwin.JPG” width=“413” height=“293” align=“right” border=0 hspace=“10px”/>Cambridge University has unveiled a panorama of famous alumni commissioned from British illustrator Quentin Blake for its 800 year anniversary.

Blake, famous for his work on Roald Dahl’s books amongst other things, has incorporated a number of scientists into the ‘Cambridge Bayeux Tapestry’. Famous faces include Watson and Crick, Darwin and Newton, as well as other luminaries such as Oli Cromwell and Lord Byron.

“To me, this is a way of saying thank-you for my years as an undergraduate and the honorary degree that the University also gave me,” says Blake (press release). “I feel very privileged to have been given this opportunity to contribute to these 800th anniversary celebrations.”

You can’t please everyone though; the artwork has been criticised from some quarters for omitting Stephen Hawking. “I drew what I was asked to draw by the university,” says Blake (PA).

Now, given the rivalry between Cambridge and Oxford it is surely only a matter of time before the dons of the latter demand their own panorama. But who should they commission? Maybe Gerald Scarfe? Or they could go all out and get Ralph Steadman…

Below the fold: Watson, Crick and Franklin, and Newton and Milton.

Images: University of Cambridge