Sir Christopher Wren by Godfrey Kneller, 1711. National Portrait Gallery, London.

Wren, Wrenaissance, and some also-Wrens: the incredible career of Sir Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren (1632–1723) regularly appears in polls of top ten famous Brits, celebrated as the architect of St Paul’s Cathedral. But this is only part of his story.

Born in the years immediately preceding the English Civil Wars, Wren was a child prodigy who became Oxford Savilian Professor of Astronomy at just 25. He was fluent in Latin and Greek by the age of 14. Long before he turned to architecture, he worked at the forefront of mathematics, physiology, invention and what came to be known as ‘science’.

In this lunchtime talk, Rory Coonan, founder of the Sir Christopher Wren Foundation and a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, explores how Wren’s turbulent childhood shaped a lifelong appetite for risk-taking.